Vashon’s school board has unanimously approved a plan to update sexual health education at the Vashon Island School District, including providing condoms at the high school.
School officials have praised the new plan, saying it outlines a more holistic approach to sex education. Superintendent Michael Soltman said he and other administrators will now begin work to implement it in the classroom, something that could be a challenge because the schedule at Vashon High School does not allow for added health classes beyond the one semester currently offered.
New sexual health curriculum and teacher training is in the works for McMurray Middle School, Soltman said, and it’s possible some education could be worked into VHS’s smart periods — time students now use to work on homework or get extra help from teachers — or at other times of the day.
“Creating a bunch of new semester courses is not an option,” he said. “We have to create experiences somehow within the time we have.”
The plan approved by the board last Thursday was crafted over the last several months by a committee of district representatives, health professionals and other community members that formed after the district garnered a large grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The 10-point plan includes promoting the skills necessary for teens to choose healthy behaviors; educating about all forms of birth control and disease prevention, while teaching abstinence as the only certain way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and addressing the needs of youth who are sexually active, including making condoms available at VHS.
Board chair Laura Wishik proposed removing the condom portion from the plan, saying she would rather see the high school make condoms available as a one-year pilot program. However, the board declined to do so.
On Friday, Wishik said she is concerned there is not yet a clear plan for providing education around condoms when they are eventually distributed.
“I don’t feel very good about the fact that I don’t think we know a way to provide condoms that will also provide the counseling and education that’s really needed,” she said.
However, Soltman said administrators will work on planning education around condoms as they determine where and how they will be made available. The plan for condoms will not require board approval, but may be crafted with input from the committee.
“We have to have a good solid way to distribute information,” he said.
Fully implementing the plan, Soltman said, could take a couple years.
“There’s some work to be done,” he said.
