Group Banned From Teaching Abstinence-Only Program in Sonoma County, Calif., Public Schools

Free to Be, a federally-funded organization in California that teaches abstinence-only sexual education to students, is at the center of a debate with education officials and others in Sonoma County over whether their curriculum is in compliance with state rules requiring that sexual health education programs in public schools be “balanced” and include information on sexual transmitted infections such as HIV and contraception, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports. Sonoma County Office of Education officials in May banned the group from giving any further presentations on public school campuses, citing state law. Free to Be, as well as several school superintendents from around the county, said they are currently reviewing their legal options (Benefield, Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, 6/7).

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