Hearings to get parent input on sex ed

Parents soon will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on the hot-button subject of sex education and other subjects taught in Utah's health classes.

Public hearings throughout Utah could begin this month depending on what the State Board of Education decides Friday after reviewing potential revisions to the Secondary Health Education Core Curriculum.

The sex ed component of the health curriculum won't change. It is dictated by legislative decree.

That won't stop people from expressing their feelings on the controversial topic of how to teach students about physical intimacy. Utah PTA officials, supporters of Planned Parenthood of Utah, lawmakers and others told the Deseret News they plan to attend the meetings.

And the legislator who sponsored a bill this year that would have allowed teachers to advocate or encourage the use of contraceptive methods and devices will be keeping a close watch.

The state PTA and the Utah Eagle Forum adamantly opposed the bill proposed by Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Salt Lake. The legislation was tabled and sent for further discussion to an interim committee, where it died.

Hemingway said he will start in May tweaking the language of his bill to "come up with some kind of compromise." His goal is to gain committee support and pitch it again next year.

The lawmaker emphasized his bill stated teachers were still to instruct abstinence as the only 100 percent-sure way to not get pregnant or get a sexually transmitted disease. Furthermore, it didn't do away with the parental permission slip or parents' right for their child to "opt out" of all or some of the sex ed program.

State administrators are revising the health curriculum simply is up for its six-year review like all other curriculum, not because of Hemingway's legislation.

Following the public hearings, Utah State Office of Education staff could make further revisions to the health curriculum. The board would then vote on the final proposal, possibly as early as June if all goes on schedule.

More specifics will be revealed today when the proposal is presented to the state board's curriculum committee in the morning and discussed by the full board in the afternoon.

The health curriculum won't be changed drastically, according to state education staff. The proposal includes adding national health education standards, as well as an updated component on adolescent risk behaviors.

Hemingway said he will likely attend one or more of the public hearings, if only to listen to comments.

PTA officials hope for a strong presence at the hearings, said Liz Zentner, health commissioner for Utah PTA.