Kansas: Parents' Permission Slip May Be Ticket to Sex Ed

At its Sept. 13 meeting, the Kansas Board of Education (BOE) will consider a draft recommendation whether to require school districts to teach sex education as an opt-in course for which parents would have to give written consent. Parents now have to opt their children out of sex education classes.

The proposed opt-in change was made when BOE received initial draft guidelines on health curricula standards. The revised draft on whether to adopt an opt-in policy will be submitted to BOE Sept. 13, said Cynthia Akagi, an assistant professor at the University of Kansas who is chairing the curricula committee.

Often splitting along ideological lines, the 10-member BOE has six conservative Republicans and a moderate bloc of two Democrats and two Republicans. BOE moderates oppose a change to an opt-in policy, as does Planned Parenthood, which is leading a petition against it.

Opponents say an opt-in policy would leave the responsibility of whether to take the course to students, who may fail to return permission slips, feel awkward about the notice, or come from a troubled or abusive home.

Ken Willard, a conservative BOE member, believes districts should be able to decide whether to adopt an opt-in or opt-out policy on sex education. But moderate BOE member Sue Gamble contends that schools already give parents advance notice about what topics will be covered in sex education classes.

Kansas schools are required to provide HIV/AIDS information, said Darrel Lang, a consultant with the state Department of Education. Local districts decide what should be taught regarding human sexuality. About 75 percent of districts offer abstinence-based sex education, which includes information about contraception, said Lang. The remaining 25 percent offer abstinence-only sex education, he said.

Back to other news for September 7, 2005