Family life and sexual health education procedure                              9/14/10

I.       PURPOSE

The Board recognizes the need for a comprehensive approach to family life and sexual health education that is consistently applied throughout the charter school and that will serve as a guide to school administration and teachers who deliver instruction or who select outside consultants to deliver sexual health instruction.

 

a.       Young people can make healthy, safe and responsible choices when they are given knowledge, skills and access to services. 

b.     The charter school recognizes that the first responsibility for the total health education of the child belongs to the parents/guardians.  Yet our total society must be ready to accept its share of the responsibility. 

c.      The sex education curriculum shall be consistent with the goals of education and shall include knowledge and skills for promotion of good health. It will be designed to strengthen the individual's self-awareness.  It will provide students with information to enable them to make healthy decisions as they participate in their family and community.

d.       Steps shall be taken to ensure that the special knowledge, skills, interests, and responsi­bilities of the charter school and related community agencies are recognized and utilized in the school's program of sex education.

 

I.       GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY

The policy reflects the Board’s commitment to provide all students with family life and sexual health education that: 

a.      respects community values and encourages family communication

b.     develops skills in communication, decision making, and conflict resolution

c.       contributes to healthy relationships

d.     provides human development and sexuality education that is age-appropriate and medically accurate

e.     includes an abstinence-first approach to delaying initiation of sexual activity that
emphasizes abstinence while also including education about contraception and disease prevention

f.       promotes individual responsibility.

 

For the purposes of this policy:

a.      "Age-appropriate" refers to topics, messages, and teaching methods suitable to
particular ages or age groups of children and adolescents, based on developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral capacity typical for the age or age group.

b.     "Medically accurate" means verified or supported by research conducted in
compliance with scientific methods and published in peer-reviewed journals, where
appropriate, and recognized as accurate and objective by professional organizations
and agencies in the relevant field, such as the federal Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of
Pediatrics, or the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

II. Comprehensive Sexuality Education

 

The charter school will promote a comprehensive sexuality education.

 

Comprehensive sexuality education has four main goals:

a.        To provide accurate information.

2. To provide an opportunity for young people to develop and understand their values, attitudes, and beliefs about sexuality.
3. To help young people develop relationship and interpersonal skills.
4. To help young people exercise responsibility regarding sexual relationships, including addressing abstinence, pressures to become prematurely involved in sexual intercourse, and the use of contraception and other sexual health measures.

 

III.Procedures/Speakers

a.     Parents/Guardians will be informed when speakers are offering topics to Wolf Creek students of a sexual nature.  Parents/Guardians will have the option to opt out of said activities.

b.     Wolf Creek will provide parents with opportunities to attend speakers along with their children.

c.      Wolf Creek will provide for one evening speaker per year that pertains to how parents can communicate with their children about topics of human sexuality through the means of the Human Sexuality Committee and its works.

d.     Speakers will be selected for presentations based on providing students with a variety of topics around sexuality within a given school year and balancing of the topics will be the responsibility of the Charter School Director.

e.     Speakers will be allowed to show contraceptives such as birth control pills, condoms, and other mechanisms but will not distribute them to students on school grounds.

f.       Anatomically correct models can and will be used when needed by speakers for presentations.

g.     Images of the human body including STD’s and other characteristics of the human body may be used in presentations if deemed necessary by the speaker.

 

IV.Procedures/Curriculum options

a.     Wolf Creek will provide parents with opportunities throughout the year to view the comprehensive sexuality curriculum and give input via the Human Sexuality committee.

b.     Students will be asked to participate in required classes that involve human sexuality topics (Health 1 and Health II).  Families are encouraged to ask questions about the curriculum and standards used in the health courses. To assist families in this endeavor the courses will be coded in the courses offered sheet as courses that involve human sexuality topics in some manner.

 

c.      It is acknowledged that other elective courses may include human sexuality topics and that students and families should discuss the comfort level of these topics before choosing them as electives.  To assist families in this endeavor the courses will be coded in the courses offered sheet as courses that involve human sexuality topics.

 

 

V.Procedures/Counseling mechanisms

a. Due to the Learning Manager model students may seek advice from staff pertaining to human sexuality topics.  Staff will communicate with students as a sounding board and offer advice on where additional resources may be sought.  

b. If counseling services are used by independent contractors who use the Wolf Creek facility it is acknowledged that this counseling service is not a Wolf Creek service.