SIMI VALLEY : Sex Education Proposals Protested

A few dozen Simi Valley parents are just saying “no” to a school board proposal to add information about birth-control methods to the district’s sex-education curriculum.

The parents protested the idea at the Tuesday night meeting of the Simi Valley Unified School District Board of Education.

“With drug education, we don’t tell our children to do drugs safely,” said Norma Wozniak, who has daughters ages 10 and 12 in the district. “I urge you to move slowly and take time to study both sides of this issue.”

The district stresses abstinence as the only sure method to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, but board member Debbie Sandland said the lack of information about birth-control methods was a gap in the district’s offerings.

She cited the teen-age birth rate as evidence that many high school students are already having sex.

The parents at Tuesday’s meeting disagreed that providing information to those students would slow the birth rate. They argued that it would send a confusing double message to youngsters who aren’t sexually active.

“The question is not how do we keep these kids from getting pregnant,” parent Dave Kugelstadt said. “The question is, ‘What are these kids doing having sex in the first place?’ ”

Supt. Robert Purvis said the district will form a committee of parents, educators and church representatives to review the idea this fall. A public hearing will be held on the options developed by the committee, he said.

“It’s not going to be sneaked by you,” Purvis told the crowd.