Nebraska Board of Education Changes Sex Education Requirements

The Nebraska Board of Education on Friday voted to change language in its accreditation requirements to avoid the appearance that it was requiring schools to teach students about condoms. School districts are free to teach safe sex or birth control in their sex education classes. The state board's policy pertains only to those programs to which the board provides financial support -- and those programs are required to teach abstinence exclusively.

The 5-3 vote would revise Rule 10, which sets the requirements for state accreditation. It includes requirements for core subjects as well as health education, where the change was made. The language that was changed read, "The personal health curriculum includes disease prevention and risk reduction to enhance health." The newly approved language reads, "The health curriculum emphasizes non-participation in high-risk behaviors." The original language could have been misinterpreted to mean that schools are required to teach safe sex, said board member Kathy Wilmot of Beaver City.

The board adopted the abstinence-only policy in 1997. In the past year, members have been divided about whether an HIV/AIDS-prevention program funded by the federal government abides by the policy. The "Can We Talk?" program, funded by the CDC, uses materials with information on condom use. The Nebraska Department of Education, which presented the material to teachers but did not discuss condoms in its presentation, argued that HIV/AIDS prevention was a separate issue from sex education. The board has pulled the program. State Commissioner Doug Christensen said no abstinence-only curriculum was available that fit that grant's guidelines, so the state may have to return the federal funding.

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