Massachusetts Town to Rethink School Condom Policy

The Provincetown School Committee should revise its newly announced policy allowing students of any age to receive free condoms at school, Gov. Deval Patrick told Superintendent Beth Singer in a phone call on Thursday. The policy, which is to take effect in the fall, allows any student to request a condom from a school nurse. Nurses would be required to provide the student with counseling, including information on abstinence, and the contraceptives most likely would be denied to the youngest students, Singer said. The policy forbids school employees from informing parents of their child's request or from refusing to distribute condoms to students whose parents object. "Obviously, this is a local issue, but I expressed my concern about the counseling and access being age-appropriate, and, for young kids, that parents ought to be involved," said Patrick, who is running for re-election against a field including two conservatives. The School Committee will "revisit" the issue, said Peter Grosso, the committee's chair, even as he maintained it is a "great" policy.

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