Newschannel 9 found more parents who didn't agree with the Valley View Middle School Administration's decision to show a Sex Ed presentation to "all" 7th and 8th graders.
Sue Beatty is in charge of health education for the City of El Paso her team presents sex ed to students in all districts and before they get on stage every student needs a signed permission slip.
"The parent reads it, and signs it if they want their child to participate," Beatty said. "If they don't want their child to participate, they they don't send it back to the school."
If parents don't return the signed forms it's supposed to be an automatic "no." But Newschannel 9 learned some students at Valley View Middle School attended a sex ed presentation even though they weren't supposed to.
Israel: "Did you know that some of the students who attended did not have permission slips?"
Beatty: "It was our understanding that every child that was there did have a permission slip to attend."
This incident has parents like Maria Soto concerned. Soto says she didn't give permission for her son to see the presentation. But the principal apparently ignored the rule and showed it to "all" 7 and 8th graders.
"They shouldn't be making a decision like that...unless we say it's ok...I see that as wrong...because I didn't sign anything," Soto said.
We also found out more about the approved Sex Ed curriculum. It includes a session for parents so they're informed about what their kids will be taught. But the parent meeting was scheduled two days after the assembly.
Israel : "As far as your five components go, to this curriculum, the parental portion is supposed to go first, before the assembly. was it backwards in this case?"
Beatty: "Preferably the parent session should go firs, yes. But we couldn't do it because of scheduling issues and we were asked to do it the other way around."
Newschannel 9 obtained a copy of the presentation. It's fashioned as a kind of "myth buster" way asking questions like "Is this statement true or false?" It covered sexual violence, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Including the fact that STD's can be transmitted through anal sex and oral sex.
The Ysleta Independent School District released a statement answering some of our questions...and gave us a personal statement from Valley View's Principal, Carmen Crosse.
"Texas is the third-leading state for teenage pregnancies, and we believe that the Department of Health's sexual education program offers factual and beneficial information for our students. I offer my sincerest apologies to the parents and students who were offended by the program shown on Tuesday. I meant no harm, and protocol will be followed in the future."--Ms. Carmen Crosse, Valley View Middle School Principal.
Post new Comment