New standards could change sex ed

Just how Planned Parenthood arrived at its flunking grade for Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s sex education program remains unclear to local school leaders.

Tom Antal, who oversees the health program as part of his duties for the district, said he filled out Planned Parenthood’s survey forms much the same way as many other school districts that got higher scores than Newport-Mesa.

“It wasn’t terribly in depth,” Antal said of the organization’s survey. “It looked like what we were doing was the same as many other school districts.”

Antal was “a little confused” then that Newport-Mesa received a score of 59 out of 100.

Planned Parenthood evaluated Orange County school districts on sex education based on the survey and how the districts promote healthy relationships, provide information on decision making, and educate students on reducing sexually transmitted diseases.

The district’s health program complies with state education codes about HIV/AIDS prevention, as well as methods to reduce transmission of STDs.

The program’s curriculum and the choice to not teach comprehensive sexual education has been in place since before Antal came to the district, but new education standards may change that.

Newport-Mesa educators are evaluating their curriculum after state officials recently issued new standards that may include changes for sexual education in public schools, Antal said. Local school leaders will compare the new standards to their current curriculum to see whether changes are needed, Antal added.

School board Vice President Dana Black said students are curious about sex education and are eager to understand the subject.

Students want more information, Black said, and she hopes the district will be able to provide it for them in the future in partnership with students’ parents.

“I think we do [need changes in sex education],” Black said.

“I think we need to give our students more credit than we do. I think they are responsible when we give them the information.”

While Antal declined to state whether changes to sex education are needed, he did suggest the conversation about what the district is doing is a healthy one.

“I think sexual education is a subject that gets people thinking and can be considered controversial,” Antal said. “I know in our community there are constituents who don’t want to do it and others that think we need to be active in teaching it. When we approach this we need to be considerate, but I am glad at least it is being talked about.”

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].