Fox’s Aids Prevention Plan Faces Legislative Scrutiny, Lawmaker Says

State Schools Superintendent Anne Fox will likely face questioning by legislators for her proposal to award AIDS prevention money for abstinence-only programs in the public schools, a key lawmaker says.

Boise Rep. Fred Tilman, the new chairman of the House Education Committee, said he is concerned her plans would crimp the local control school districts prize, by denying them money if they draft the kind of AIDS program their patrons want.

“I know we’ve worked very hard to move decision-making back to the local level,” Tilman said. “It’s something she will be considerably questioned on.”

Fox has rewritten a grant that previously awarded 20 Idaho school districts about $80,000 in federal Centers for Disease Control money.

It went to districts who offered programs based on abstinence but included other prevention methods as well, to reduce the risk of infection among teenagers.

If the Centers agency approves Fox’s proposal next month, the money would go only for speakers, literature and teacher training that focus solely on abstinence.

“If more young people were taught self-constraint and self-respect, and occupy themselves with activities that won’t get them in trouble, it will save a few lives,” Fox said.

She said it will not interfere with AIDS or sex education programs already in place. A school can still get a grant and tell students about condoms, for example, as long as the Centers money is geared just to abstinence, she said.

For the past year, lawmakers and educators have reviewed all the state rules governing public schools and recommended deleting those that infringed on local control.

Tilman said he wants to ensure Fox’s plan does not undermine that effort.