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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

School board mum on sex-education questions

Don’t ask Spokane school board members what they really think about sex education. They are not ready to talk about it.

Two interns, from Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest and Odyssey Youth Center, crafted a list of questions with the help of a Planned Parenthood staffer and sent it this week to Spokane Public Schools board members. The plan was to follow up with phone calls and interviews if the surveys were not completed and returned by Monday.

“I heard there was some kind of kerfuffle about our questions,” said Sarah Kleinstein on Friday. She’s an 18-year-old senior at North Central High School who helped write the questions.

None of the five school board members could be reached for comment Friday. Board president Don Barlow did call Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Brian Benzel, who said that the board will not answer the questions as posed.

The two interns and members of both agencies will meet with school officials, Benzel said.

He added that he understood the intent of the questionnaire was to understand what’s happening with sex education in the district.

“I think there may be a more effective and timely way to get that done and be more respectful to the board,” Benzel said, recalling a conversation with Ramon Alvarez, executive director of Odyssey Youth Center.

“These are complicated questions that have a lot of detail in them. I couldn’t answer that survey without a lot of study,” Benzel said.

In all, seven questions are asked in the questionnaire. The questions were written by the interns based on the state-issued guidelines for sexual health information and disease prevention.

Question six, for example, asks: “Do you think Comp Sex Ed classes should discuss sexuality in its entirety (i.e. homosexuality, bisexuality, heterosexuality, and transgender topics)? Please explain.”

The survey also asked board members what they think is the importance of parent and student opinions on drafting sex education policies.

“It’s important to know where they stand,” Kleinstein said. “They are elected officials.”

When Kleinstein learned Friday that the board members won’t answer the questions, she said, “At least they responded to say they won’t respond.”

The high school senior first got involved with Planned Parenthood last year after she began seeing friends and other students get pregnant in high school.

“One of my good friends had a baby last year,” Kleinstein said. “There’s some huge gap (in sex education) when there are five pregnant juniors.”

Margaret Mount, education director of Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest, sits on the Spokane Public Schools’ Human Growth and Development Citizen Advisory Committee. She said it’s her goal to get more people, especially parents, to talk openly about sexuality issues. She helped edit the questionnaire.

“I’ve heard stories about teachers who don’t want to say the word penis, or they mumble it,” Mount said. “Students have questions. They may not be getting the answers. … We need to all have a common language.”

After serving six months on the committee, Mount said she still isn’t sure how teachers are using materials cleared by the committee.

“What I’m told from the youth is it’s not getting into the classroom. It’s not consistent in the classroom,” Mount said. “I know there are some awesome teachers. I just don’t see the consistency.”

The questionnaire idea came from a grant given by Advocates for Youth, a national organization committed to comprehensive sexuality education. Its Web site talks of a long-term campaign to give voice to a “new vision of adolescent sexual health.”

The organization pushes for scientific, research-driven public health policies and believes that “sexuality is viewed as a normal and healthy part of being human, of being a teen, of being alive,” according to the Web site.

Mount pledges to keep pushing the need to have an open conversation about sexuality issues. She said she’s looking forward to more talk with district officials.

“I want change,” Mount said. “But if I find that change isn’t happening, I will keep pushing for what our youth needs.”

Alvarez said young people have asked him why Spokane Public Schools doesn’t address homosexual, lesbian or transgender issues. In July last year, the school board on a 2-2 vote rejected a videotape called “Being Gay: Coming out in the 21st Century,” and the four-page written companion piece “Dealing with Homophobia.” The materials had been endorsed by the citizen advisory committee.

“I’m seeing kids who need that information today, not two or three years from now,” Alvarez said. “(The board’s) non-response means we have to find another way to get the information.”