By ANITA BURKE
Mail Tribune

The head of the Rogue Valley’s largest church has threatened to pull his children from public schools and exhort his congregation to do the same if the Medford School District adopts a proposed comprehensive health curriculum that includes information on contraception.

Peter-John Courson, senior pastor at Applegate Christian Fellowship, said that although his two daughters are still preschoolers, the district’s proposed health courses had given him second thoughts about sending them to the Medford schools he attended.

"I cringe at the thought of my little girls being told about contraception and condoms outside of my presence," he said. "If (the proposed curriculum) goes forward this way, I will pull my kids and use the pulpit to ask my congregation to pull their kids out of public school."

Courson said his congregation didn’t know of his plans to voice his opposition to the health curriculum at Tuesday’s board meeting and he would pray about the matter before taking his message to the pulpit.

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The Medford School Board is considering an update — the first since 1991 — of the health courses it teaches students in grades seven through 12. The introduction of the new materials drew a crowd, with two people speaking out against the plan and three in favor.

Curriculum Director Todd Bloomquist said he thought as people learned more about the curriculum update, they would feel more comfortable with the material.

Courson wasn’t available for comment after the meeting.

Health teachers have spent 18 months evaluating research-based teaching materials that meet state standards and laws requiring comprehensive sex education that includes information about contraceptives and AIDS/HIV. Classes also must cover making healthy decisions regarding alcohol, drug and tobacco use, and information on disease control and prevention, nutrition and physical activity, and injury, violence and suicide prevention.

The law also requires districts to let parents review sex education materials and remove their children from that portion of a health class if they object to the materials.

"This is not a big change from what we’ve been doing," said McLoughlin Middle School Principal Amy Tiger, who led the evaluation.

The proposed curriculum introduces contraception in eighth grade, two years earlier than it is introduced now. Teachers still will discourage middle school students from having sex, but research has shown kids need classroom information two years before they face real-life decisions for prevention to work, Tiger said.

The curriculum calls for information to be age appropriate and for the district to work in cooperation with parents.

"Facilitating a family discussion is a goal," Tiger said.

Medford resident Lori Johnson said that with daughters in fifth and eighth grade, she appreciates the school’s comprehensive approach and the way it involves parents.

"I strive to be a good partner with my daughters’ schools and I thank you for being a partner with me in this," she told the board.

The Rev. Bill McDonald of Medford’s First United Methodist Church was unable to attend the school board meeting because he and many other Rogue Valley pastors were at the installation of a new rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. But he contacted board member Mike Moran to express support for a comprehensive health program.

"I have the philosophy that we need to help our kids see the whole of health issues, including sexuality and contraception," said McDonald, whose daughter attends Hedrick Middle School. "Our schools need to be educating people for life."

He said sex education and school curricula likely wouldn’t come up in his sermons.

It’s online

The curriculum, along with teacher guides and other materials, also is available for review at the curriculum office, 600 Whitman Place, Medford. People can leave written comments there.

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.