State Backs Weis on Sex Education Debate
The state Department of Education has sided with Ventura County schools chief Charles Weis in a dispute with the county board over Weis’ scheduling of Planned Parenthood and AIDS Care speakers at sex education workshops.
In a letter to Weis, Education Department lawyer Joseph R. Symkowicksaid, “A county superintendent of schools may conduct teacher institutes without prior approval or determinations by the county Board of Education.”
Symkowick added that the board can also conduct its own training workshops.
Weis said Tuesday, however, that he will delay acting until he receives a further opinion from the state attorney general.
The issue of whether the board or the superintendent controls teacher-training workshops arose in March when three out of the five board members voted to temporarily ban Planned Parenthood and AIDS Care speakers from sex education workshops.
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