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COMMUNITY JOURNAL

NORTH CLERMONT

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

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BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS

Sex ed presentation upsets some CNE parents By John Seney

jseney@communitypress.com

STONELICK TWP. — Sharon Averwater told Clermont Northeastern school officials “you have taken my child’s innocence away” as the result of a sexual education presentation made during a Heath Week program at CNE Middle School. She said her son told her he thought the program was inappropriate. “How did it get approved?” she asked “Who is going to step up and fix it?” CNE Superintendent Ralph Shell apologized for the presentation to several dozen people attending the Jan. 28 school board meeting. A packet of information provided by Shell provided some details about the sexual education program, including discussions about male and female reproductive organs, types of sexual activity and risks of sexually transmitted diseases. Parents at the meeting told Shell they were upset not only with the content of the presentation, but with the lack of communication with parents. Shell said school officials made several mistakes: » Not sending a letter home to parents beforehand letting them know about the presentation. » Not giving the parents an

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Clermont Northeastern Superintendent Ralph Shell Jan. 28 talks to people attending the CNE school board meeting. Shell apologized for not informing parents beforehand about a sex education presentation at the middle school. JOHN SENEY/THE COMMUNITY PRESS

opportunity to opt out of the program for their children. » Inviting someone to the school when “we did not know what they were going to say.” “This will not happen again,” he said. “You should have been able to take your kid out.” Shell said he will have the packets of information about the Health Week program available in his office for parents to pick up. He said he is dealing with the aftermath of the situation, but he could not give out any more details. “It is an internal personnel matter,” Shell said.

Health Week Jan. 14 to Jan. 17 was organized by middle school gym teacher Jason Iles with the cooperation of Principal Heather Powell. In addition to the sexual issues, there also were presentations on personnel hygiene, nutrition, self image and suicide and drug and alcohol use. Shell said he knew beforehand about Health Week, but did not know the details. Powell said she takes full responsibility for not sending out information to the parents beforehand or giving them the opportunity to opt out. “It was an oversight on my

part,” she said. Powell said she did not think there was anything wrong with the material presented to the students. “It fits in with the national standards for middle school,” she said. Powell said sixth-graders were given an overview on puberty by representatives from the YWCA. The seventh- and eighthgrade students were given a more in-depth presentation on sexual issues by representatives from the group Healthy Visions of Blue Ash, Ohio. She said outside experts and groups were used for all the Health Week presentations. Faye Miller of Brushy Fork Road said her grandson was embarrassed by the sexual education presentation. “This was uncalled for,” she said. Miller said she wanted to see a video that was shown to the students as part of the presentation. Shell said he would try to arrange that. He said if the school has any similar presentations in the future, “it will be well-controlled and by the school nurse.” “If the board had known about this, we would have stopped it,” said school board President Mike Freeman.

DONUTS WITH DADS

Spaulding Elementary School students and dads line up for donuts and drinks at the annual Donuts with Dads. For more photos, see B1. JOHN SENEY/THE COMMUNITY PRESS

OLE FISHERMAN LOOKS AT SEEDS

GOOD THINGS HAPPENING

Stores have seeds, time to plan garden Full story, B4

Trustee Bob Hausermann’s column talks of the future. Viewpoints, A8

News ..........................248-8600 Retail advertising ..............768-8196 Classified advertising .........242-4000 Delivery ........................576-8240 See page A2 for additional information

Goshen increases EMS rates Residents won’t be billed By John Seney jseney@communitypress.com

GOSHEN TWP. — Goshen Township Fire and EMS is raising some rates for emergency calls. The action should not have a major effect on residents because only insurance companies are billed for the services, not individual residents. Non-residents are sent a bill for what the insurance company doesn’t pay, but under the “soft billing” poliPegram cy, the charges are written off if the non-resident doesn’t pay. Fire Chief Steve Pegram said he increased rates Jan. 1 for transportation to a hospital from $850 to $1,100. He said a resolution passed by the township trustees in 2010 gave him the authority to adjust rates based on local averages. The trustees Jan. 22 also approved a resolution to begin charging $50 a call in instances where rescue workers are sent to the scene of an emergency, but the person refuses transport to the hospital. In the past, there was no charge for non-transports, Pegram said. He said the department makes about 400 non-transport calls a year, and the new fee will help recoup some of the expense of those calls. Residents will not be sent a bill for the nontransport calls, only insurance companies. The chief said he began studying increases in billing rates after voters in November rejected a safety levy that would have helped fund the fire department. He said money from the billings helps pay for supplies and medication. The township uses a service, Medicount Management Inc., to handle the billing. “This is a very creative way to get funds to cover costs,” said Trustee Claire Corcoran.