The New York Times - Sunday, January 25, 2004
Peter C. Beller

SAG HARBOR - AFTER a holiday break to cool tempers, things are getting back to normal at the Pierson Middle School. The sixth-grade AIDS lecture that loosed a barrage of criticism from parents over what they called inappropriate material has given way to more traditional topics of student gossip. But some parents here are still angry and upset, school board members and county officials have promised to review their sex-ed curriculum and a teacher has been withdrawn from two of her classes.

The controversy stems from two lectures on Dec. 9 attended by about half of the 80 sixth graders at Pierson, which shares a name and a building with Pierson High School. The presentations were given by a county health worker who discussed terms like oral sex and vaginal intercourse, and included an exercise in which pupils placed cards labeled with various behaviors, including sex acts and drug-taking, into categories based on their risk of transmitting AIDS.

In subsequent meetings with administrators and in two school board meetings, parents lashed out at Susan Denis, the teacher who brought the lecturer into the class, and the school for not notifying parents in advance and for the subject matter covered. Ms. Denis is primarily a health teacher, but her sixth-grade classes are supposed to be devoted to study skills, not health.

"It was the age-appropriateness of it," said Bonnie Mahoney, whose son attended the lecture. "These kids were taught things they were not ready to be taught."

Walter Stachecki, 46, father of a Pierson sixth-grader, said that parents were not against AIDS education, which is mandated by the state for grades kindergarten through 12, but that the lectures were not part of the curriculum of a study skills class and that some children were not ready for the material. He cited instances of students coming home in tears.

"Maybe I want to talk to my kid about oral sex before he had to find out about it and hold up a plaque," Mr. Stachecki said. "To me it's kind of about the rights of a parent."

The Sag Harbor schools superintendent, Kathryn Holden, said about 15 parents initially asked to have their children removed from Ms. Denis's sixth-grade study skills classes. But no child has actually left, Ms. Holden said.

"Parents were caught off guard at the dinner table that night with questions from their children, so parents were forced into conversations that they weren't expecting at that point of time," Ms. Holden said. "They didn't know what had been presented in class."

Sag Harbor students study health in 7th and 10th grades, with some instruction in AIDS awareness given to each grade, usually in the form of an annual assembly that was not scheduled this year. The lecturer, Ed Hyshiver of the Suffolk County Division of Public Health, was at Pierson that day to speak to Ms. Denis's 7th- and 10th-grade health classes and was asked by the teacher to also visit her 6th-grade classes, Ms. Holden said.

Ms. Holden said the district had received reports from Mr. Hyshiver and Ms. Denis about the presentations and had concluded that they were inappropriate.

"In that skills class that particular lecture, without any preliminary orientation for parents or students, was inappropriate," Ms. Holden said, adding that Ms. Denis was withdrawn from the study skills classes and agreed to have a teaching assistant placed in her classroom. School officials also told Ms. Denis to move a unit on human sexuality in her health classes to later in the year so administrators can meet with parents who have any concerns.

Ms. Holden would not say if Ms. Denis faced any sanctions from the school, citing policy over personnel matters, but said the teacher could be returned to the study skills classes after the AIDS curriculum has been updated by an advisory committee formed by the Sag Harbor school board. The committee will meet on Wednesday, she said, and Ms. Denis will serve on the committee.

Ms. Denis, 48, has taught health at Pierson, her alma mater, for 11 years and was the school's nurse and guidance counselor at one point. She said she was not permitted to discuss recent events but that, although she was removed from the skills classes, no disciplinary action had been taken against her.

The school board president, Walter Tice, said the committee would not have prevented the December incident because it is responsible only for planning the curriculum and Mr. Hyshiver's lecture was not scheduled.

Ed Dumas, a spokesman for the new Suffolk county executive, Steve Levy, said the Sag Harbor incident has prompted the county Division of Public Health to review the curriculum it teaches in Suffolk's public schools.

Mr. Hyshiver, 51, said he discussed the appropriateness of the program with Ms. Denis before the class, removing a reference to anal sex but not references to oral and vaginal intercourse and use of condoms. He denied that students were made to hold up the behavior cards and said he explained terms in a straightforward manner.

"I didn't see any inordinate amount of embarrassment," he said, although there is always giggling when sex in mentioned. Mr. Hyshiver, who has been at his job for 25 years, said he had given thousands of presentations in Suffolk County schools. Mr. Hyshiver said he he has never before met with so many objections to his lessons, but noted that community attitudes differ from school to school and that he long ago learned to ask before broaching specific topics. He said that in Catholic schools, for example, he asks whether condom use can be included and believed he was being similarly cautious by talking with Ms. Denis beforehand.

"I tailor the lesson plan to the community's tastes," Mr. Hyshiver said, adding that Ms. Denis "has been doing this for years. She's the person who has a sense of what's appropriate. She's the person who's been in charge of AIDS education."

Few sixth graders are sexually active, Mr. Hyshiver said, but education before their teenage years has been shown to lead them to put off sexual activity until they are older. "It's not necessarily an intervention program, it's a prevention program," he said.

"I'm not concerned with what they're doing in the sixth grade," he said, but added: "Is there a need for this? Definitely."

040125
NYT040114

Copyright © 2004 - The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved. All New York Times articles contained on the AEGiS web site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of The New York Times Company. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. However, you may download articles (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only.

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2004. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2004. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .