Following a third and final meeting of the School District of Mauston's Human Growth and Development Advisory Committee, chairperson and school nurse Donna McGinley said that minor changes would bring the district's sex education curriculum into compliance with the Healthy Youth Act.

According to Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth, the committee's claims are either deceptive to the public or "flagrantly against the law."

In question is the district's handling of instruction regarding contraception. The new law states schools choosing to teach sex education in Wisconsin must include, "the health benefits, side effects, and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods."

Southworth said the district's decision not to provide "how-to" instruction in the use of contraceptives would prevent them from being in compliance with the law's requirements.

"If there's not [such instruction], they're violating the law," he said. "Proper use is the exact same thing as a ‘how-to.'"

In the ongoing discussion regarding what actually goes on in Mauston High School sex education classes, health teacher Mike Taake may be the only adult who can offer a concrete answer.

"We discuss how each one of the contraceptives work and how reliable they are," he said. "I do not bring any actual barriers to the classroom, we do not practice how to use them."

Taake, who has taught health, and more specifically human growth and development, in Mauston for over 20 years, said the curriculum directs him what to teach and he is left to decide how to teach it - just as with any other subject.

"A teacher is a professional and you just have to trust he'll do his job teaching," he said.

District Superintendent Steven Smolek intends to do just that with both Taake and the committee. He said if the school board accepts the committee's recommendation, the district will stand behind the curriculum.

"I guess we'll take that on when it comes if somebody wants to make that charge," he said.

Smolek reiterated McGinley's statement regarding changes in the district's instruction of human sexuality curriculum.

"I don't sense that the approach is going to be much different," he said. "We're not going to bring cucumbers or bananas in and put condoms on."

Regardless of the seriousness or legality of the changes the committee recommended, the existence of the curriculum is no longer in question.

However, the contents of the curriculum itself may not offer much insight into the issue for anyone lacking professional experience in public education.

School District of Mauston Director of Curriculum and Instruction Lynette Livingston provided the Star-Times with a copy of the human sexuality unit of both the old and new ninth grade human growth and development curriculum.

Typical to public education, both two-page documents are a list of state standards creating a general outline of what topics must be covered and in what order they should be covered.

According to Livingston, the curriculum, as well as instructional materials, must be available for the public to view at any time in order to be in compliance with the Healthy Youth Act.

In response to Southworth's assessment of the committee's recommendation, Livingston said the committee did its best to interpret the requirements of the law.

"I would simply say to the best of our understanding of the requirements of this law, we will be in compliance," she said.

Livingston said the committee's understanding was not only based on its members' professional experience, but on letters of opinion from the district's legal counsel and the state Department of Public Instruction.

According to Southworth, however, the committee's interpretation is short of compliance.

"There's no decision making whether you are going to follow the new law," he said. "The new mandate is exactly that - a mandate."

The Mauston School Board will likely decide whether the district will continue human growth and development instruction at its Sept. 20 regular meeting.

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