PARENTS WEIGH IN ON CONTROVERSIAL HEALTH CURRICULUM

Dozens Testify At School Board Meeting Tuesday

More than 100 people crowded into the Juneau-Douglas High School
library for a Juneau School Board meeting Tuesday night to weigh in
on a controversial K-12 curriculum that would include discussion of
drug use, sex and homosexuality.

A final reading of the "Skills for a Healthy Life" curriculum - which
includes discussing sensitive issues with students as early as
elementary school - was on Tuesday night's agenda.

After dozens of parents signed up for public testimony, board member
Phyllis Carlson moved to change the health curriculum to a second
reading, so more people could testify and the School Board would take
action on the curriculum later. A final reading will be held at the
next regular School Board meeting on April 17.

Much of the public testimony opposed the teaching of certain
sensitive items in school, saying drug and alcohol use and abuse, sex
and same-sex couples are topics that should be discussed by parents.

Ben Gilbert testified before the board that two different role models
who teach one of these subjects in a different manner could confuse students.

"It's up to the parents for many of these sensitive topics," he said.

Gilbert suggested letting parents take their children out of all
classes in which certain health topics are taught.

"This is about the children," he said.

The fact that so many people attended the meeting shows that they are
good parents, School Board member Mark Choate said. But, "as a
district we have to look at the bigger picture," he said.

There is information related to certain issues that needs to be
taught to children, Choate said.

Carlson said the district has a responsibility to teach certain
issues that are not being taught by some parents in the homes.

Several parents threatened to take their children out of the school
system if certain subjects, such as alternative family lifestyles,
were discussed as part of class curriculum.

A number of parents said the School Board was overstepping its
boundaries by teaching elements of sexual education to students in
elementary school. Others discussed concerns about the idea of
teaching children about "family configurations" and homosexuality.

Parent Jetta Whittaker testified she supports the curriculum and said
it has been greatly improved in the several years it has taken to
develop. She said she has had to discuss sensitive issues at home
with her son and they also should be taught in the school.

"I've been dealing with (my son) hearing derogatory terms on the
playground since he was in preschool," Whittaker said.

James Siddle, a parent of eight and grandfather of 14, said he
supports kindness and respect in school but said certain things
should not be taught.

"You can only teach or express your own personal beliefs," he said.
"They show through no matter what you do."

Siddle said he is appalled the district wants to teach students about
alternative family lifestyles.

"To me it traditionally is a male father and a female mother," he
said, adding that the absence of one of those leads to social problems.

Public testimony continued past the Juneau Empire's press time.