When it comes to sex education, human reproduction and human sexuality education, Juneau\u2019s school superintendent doesn\u2019t foresee any issues stemming from House Bill 156, a parental rights bill that implements extra steps before such topics can be taught in the classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have to formally approve the people who do our human sexuality. From everything I\u2019ve heard what we\u2019ve been doing in the past has been working very well and everybody is very happy with, and so a little bit more formality to that process I really don\u2019t see as being a huge issue for us,\u201d superintendent Mark Miller said Tuesday night during a regular Juneau School Board meeting at Thunder Mountain High School library.<\/p>\n
[New restrictions on sex ed become law<\/a>]<\/p>\n Gov. Bill Walker allowed the bill, sponsored by Rep. Wes Keller, R-Wasilla, with amendments from Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, to pass without a signature. It becomes law on Oct. 26.<\/p>\n Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands has partnered with the district for the past four years to provide sexual health education and peer-to-peer education programs, like Teen Council.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really value the relationships that we have and have gotten great feedback from teachers, from parents and from the youth that we serve, and we want to continue that,\u201d Juneau\u2019s Planned Parenthood community outreach educator Cori Stennett said to the school board during public comment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to work with you all in whatever way is going to come about for the vetting process, and continue to engage with you and collaborate in the development of policies that will mean that we can keep coming in when invited and support our peer educators,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n School board member Emil Mackey wanted to make sure the district\u2019s procedures were in line with Association of Alaska School Board policies.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to lose Planned Parenthood as a partner at all, so I want to be sure we have everything in line,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n [Juneau teens say banning Planned Parenthood is bad for students<\/a>]<\/p>\n Prior to HB 156, Miller said the board adopted the health curriculum and allowed administration to implement it.<\/p>\n \u201cBy adopting the curriculum, the board allowed de facto, if you will, the head of curriculum to decide who the provider would be,\u201d Miller said during an interview after the meeting.<\/p>\n Now, the extra step, which Miller called \u201credundant and unnecessary,\u201d means the director of teaching and learning support Ted Wilson will present the board with a list of sex education providers, and it\u2019ll be up to the board to approve or not approve. Miller said that will likely occur during the next regular school board meeting Sept. 13.<\/p>\n Miller said the district has already been adhering to other elements of that section of the bill. For instance, the bill states that a sex education provider has to either be a certified teacher or supervised by a certified teacher.<\/p>\n \u201cA certified teacher is always supposed to be in the room regardless of the subject,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n HB 156 also states that before any materials related to sex education can be used in a classroom, it has to not only be approved by the board, but it also has to be available for parents to review. The same goes with a provider\u2019s credentials.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a parent wants to review a person\u2019s credential, we will make that available, absolutely,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n Enrollment projections<\/strong><\/p>\n This fall\u2019s school enrollment could be about a hundred kids higher than prior estimates.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were projecting just under 4,600 students \u2014 4,597 \u2014 and it\u2019s looking like we\u2019ll actually be slightly over 4,700, which is pretty good news,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n He said the increase is spread throughout the grades. The figure is from the number of students\u2019 names in the district\u2019s system.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of those kids have been rolled over from last year, we\u2019ve had some people move in and they\u2019ve registered their kids, and then we have the kindergartners and pre-K who we never know,\u201d Miller said after the meeting.<\/p>\n The figure doesn\u2019t take into account any students who may have moved out of the district, though, he added.<\/p>\n The increased enrollment could mean more money to the district, which Miller explained would go to hiring more teachers and staff, a \u201cbreak even\u201d for the budget.<\/p>\n Miller said Auke Bay Elementary School\u2019s kindergarten classes are bigger than the district had anticipated, and other schools are smaller, which \u201cmay require some moving around of staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller cautioned the board that the numbers are still changeable.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil all the high school kids show up, this is at best an estimate and nothing you can bank on, but right now it\u2019s what we\u2019re looking at,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI wanted to give you a heads up, and no doubt they will change tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 623-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n Read more news:<\/strong><\/p>\n Juneau on track to see most burglaries in a decade<\/a><\/p>\n Hundreds of thousands heed Juneau’s Marian Call, share #first7jobs<\/a><\/p>\n