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Under a decision announced Friday by the head of Knox County Schools, all instruction related to human sexuality will be provided by the district's health educators and representatives of the Knox County Health Department - not by outside agencies."We think we're in a strong position for our educators to do that job effectively with the support of the Health Department," said Superintendent Jim McIntyre.
McIntyre's move came after an inspection of materials used by outside groups, chiefly Planned Parenthood. Staff members from the school system, the Health Department, and Carson-Newman College conducted the review. It found that Planned Parenthood's curriculum was "generally . very appropriate and tightly aligned with specific academic standards required within the Tennessee curriculum."
However, because Planned Parenthood's website also was shared with students, its contents were evaluated as well. The site contained "material that was outside what is approved in the Tennessee Family Life curriculum, and provided links to material that would clearly be inappropriate for classroom use and could understandably have been regarded as objectionable by some parents," McIntyre wrote to school board members.
To avoid disruptions in lesson planning, outside groups previously scheduled to make presentations in the current academic year will be allowed to do so, McIntyre said.
The superintendent added that his directive will not affect the overall practice of inviting outside spokespersons, such as engineers and judges, to talk with students about their own areas of expertise.
McIntyre's decision won praise from Kym McCormick, a Hardin Valley Academy mom who was among parents raising concerns about a Planned Parenthood presentation. Jeff Teague, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, said it was "a fair and reasonable resolution" to the situation. The group will continue to make presentations in other Tennessee schools, he added.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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