Parents and counselors urge district to keep Planned Parenthood partnerships and expand middle-school sexual health instruction

Two public commenters — a social worker and a school counselor — urged the Schenectady City School District to continue partnerships with Planned Parenthood and to strengthen sexual-health education at middle schools.

"Planned Parenthood has done some good work for us," said Ebony Belmar, who identified herself as a social worker with 26 years in the district. Belmar described a district wellness day at Mount Pleasant and Central Park middle schools that included Planned Parenthood presenters and said that sex education currently occurs primarily in sixth grade; she recommended additional middle-school instruction and repeated, developmentally appropriate lessons later in middle school rather than waiting until tenth grade.

Tanya Bustillo, a school counselor, said she "has found Planned Parenthood a very good provider to work with" and that outside providers sometimes help staff address pregnancy scares and other urgent student needs. Both speakers asked the board to continue relationships with community providers and to reconsider the timing and frequency of sexual-health education in middle schools.

District officials did not take a formal vote related to the public comment; the remarks were made during the public comment period and were recorded for the minutes. The district's Office of Teaching and Learning later discussed curriculum, assessments and partnerships in its literacy presentation but made no immediate changes based on the comments recorded on this meeting's public comment agenda.