MCS changes policy, requires parent OK for sex education

Parents must now opt-in for students to attend classes

Memphis City Schools has changed its consent policy on sex education, denying access to students who do not have signed permission forms from home.

For more than a decade, parents who did not want their children to receive the instruction could opt out by signing a refusal form. All other students were automatically included.

Under the change, exclusion will be the default. Only students whose parents sign forms requesting sex education, including HIV/AIDS instruction, will be permitted in the classes.

Critics say the "opt-in" policy creates another hurdle for students, particularly African-American students who already face staggering teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates.

"Anything that makes it more difficult for young people to get this information creates a barrier," said Monica Rodriguez, president of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, noting that teenagers in general have higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases and that the rates are particularly high in the South.

Memphis is in the top five cities in the number of new HIV/AIDS cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a text message Monday, school board lawyer Dorsey Hopson said he would check with administrators about the policy change. He did not call back.

An MCS administrator who spoke off the record last week said the district had not made a final decision on changing the policy.

But in an email exchange between MCS research evaluator Carla Shirley and Barry Chase, president of Planned Parenthood in the Greater Memphis Region, Shirley says the district "has decided to use an Opt-In policy with parents regarding sex education/HIV and AIDS education."

She confirmed in the email that Planned Parenthood did not misinterpret the decision.

Three weeks ago, MCS communications staff told The Commercial Appeal that no policy change had been made. When the newspaper provided the Planned Parenthood email, district officials said they would comment later.

Changing to an opt-in policy, Rodriguez says, puts Memphis in the slim minority of school districts.

"Almost every school district in the country has an opt-out policy," she said, adding that she could not provide research on how the change affects student enrollment in sex education.

While Rodriguez says an "overwhelming number" of parents typically sign sex education permission requests, "that is assuming parents are aware that the policy has changed and that permission slips make their way home …," she said.

The onus is on the district to notify parents of the change, Rodriguez said. "If nothing is done to inform parents, if there is no public awareness campaign, that can also impact the rate of return."

Chase of Planned Parenthood suspects getting permission slips returned may be difficult.

"Unfortunately, many parents are absent or not involved in their child's schooling and not available to sign a permission slip. Yet many of those students are the ones most at risk and most likely to need sexuality education from the schools."

Late Tuesday, MCS spokeswoman Staci Franklin said administrators were meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the issue.

"Things are probably going to change after that meeting is done," she said.