Comprehensive Sex
Ed Approved for Florida School

The St. Lucie County, Fla., school board approved a controversial sex education curriculum by a 4-1 vote, the Palm Beach Post reported Tuesday.

The program, titled "Get Real About AIDS," is designed to encourage condom use, a particularly pertinent issue in St. Lucie County, which has Florida's highest rate of HIV/AIDS cases among black residents. Superintendent Michael Lannon recommended the program to the board in late August after it was presented to him by the St. Lucie County Executive Roundtable, a group of 27 community leaders.

In response to beliefs that the county's health curriculum was inadequately addressing growing health concerns, the group spent a year researching alternative courses. Explaining her affirmative vote for the program, board member Judi Miller told the Post, "I have to ask myself what the numbers will be in the future if we don't adopt this curriculum." (The Advocate)