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| Thanks for
visiting NotInOurSchool.com where Concerned Citizens are
saying, "Planned Parenthood... Not in Our School!" May 22, 2008 - Just Added: Easier links by date, Hatch Opt Out Letter in PDF and HTML format, Notes on May 20th Board of Education Meeting, New Email Address information@notinourschool.com, WANTED: Concerned Citizen For Television Interview with Local News Channel. People are talking about and discussing these important issues. Fonda-Fultonville has finally updated their website with information on the Planned Parenthood "Training" . Please attend the next Board of Education Meeting and express your concerns. The date appears to be on June 30th (if it is not changed again). Concerned Citizens' facts and comments and NotInOurSchool.com are being discussed on blogs and newspapers. We are making an impact.
To: Fonda-Fultonville Central School District Board of Education
Carole DeBonte, President It is with all due respect that we the community of the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District ask you to reconsider your choice of Planned Parenthood as our sex education instructors. We ask instead that you consider the solid input and experience of a medical advisory board from Montgomery County. We too recognize the need for sex education, but we believe as adults, that the education needs to be complete and balanced. When an organization that is a business, presents their view, they are often unable to do so without a bias. Medical fact is medical fact. Please note that according to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Annual Report of 2004 - 2005, their income for the year was $902.8 million. Planned Parenthood received $305.3 million from government grants and contracts, 345.1 million in clinic income, $212.2 million in private contributions, $33 million in other income, and 7.2 million from the Alan Guttmacher Institute. Yes, they are a business. We are very concerned as parents and taxpayers that this educator is being considered. The instructor flatly said no to parent class observation, which causes one to wonder why? We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you of the Hatch Amendment that was passed in 1984. Under this amendment, we as parents have the right to inspect all instructional material, including that used in experimental or testing programs. According to the school district website, one of your strategic planning goals for the year 2006-2007 was to focus on community involvement and informing the school community. We learned at the parent information night on April 6, 2008, that the administration was fielding increased complaints of sexual harassment and many other serious issues dating back to December. Due to this increase, the SADD group was taken to various events and decided that they were most comfortable with Planned Parenthood. The school community was not notified of this problem or this solution until April 2008. Furthermore, this information was given to a smallpart of your school community, yet it will affect your entire middle school. This situation falls far below your set goals of clearly communicating with us, the community. The communication has been very poor and very late. We are asking your time and consideration on these matters.
Did you know that the Fonda - Fultonville School District has partnered with Planned Parenthood to 'conduct informational sessions' for our seventh and eighth graders? (Please see the April 2008 School Letter and April in PDF format) Many parents attended the meeting and several questions were asked and answered. Christy Callaghan-Leue, Community Educator, at Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson, was on hand to promote the program and answer our questions. Upon arrival she had handouts for the parents who attended the meeting. Two parents were familiar with some of the information related to teenwire.com a Plannedarenthood website made exclusively for children. Please research this site and see the information that is being given to our children. Christy informed the parents that the teenwire.com site was for adults. When looking at the teenwire website, it is clear to see who the site is geared for. At the April meeting, Dr. James Hoffman, Superintendent, stated that when the Planned Parenthood informational sessions were offered, he would make sure that the school web page posted this information to keep the public properly notified. If you go to the school website , you will not find information about the Planned Parenthood program. Dr. Hoffman, where is the information about Planned Parenthood? Many parents attended the April 28th Board Of Education meeting to discuss the partnership of the school district with Planned Parenthood. Our group asked for time to discuss our concerns and to share our detailed information and to be placed on the Board Of Education's Agenda. Dr. Hoffman, stated that our group could not have approved time on the Board of Educations Agenda, but we could have three minutes during the public question time. Several concerned parents expressed valid questions and concerns, and one parent handed the board a petition that have over 130 signatures (completed within a four day period). The board president assured the parents that this matter would be looked into. A week after this meeting, two board members were approached and asked if these Planned Parenthood Sessions were already voted into place. The parents were assured that this was not the case. The curriculum was to be researched.
On Thursday, May 15th, a letter was sent home by Mrs . Elizabeth Donovan, Planned Parenthood informational sessions were going to begin. A board member was contacted immediately and he was shocked to hear that a confirmation letter was sent out. The first session is to begin on Wednesday, May 21/22. As shown by the May 15th letter (page 2), parents may sign up for an evening informational session or a mock presentation. Dr. Hoffman and Mrs Donovan, when will these informational sessions be given? Will this be after you have already presented our children this training? The letter also stated "please go to www.siecus.org and click on "guidelines"". The 'guidelines' link is not there to click on. You can click here: SIECUS Guidelines. When I recieved the letter and checked out the link given by Mrs. Donovan, I asked myself this question: Who is SEICUS? I thought why wouldn't Planned Parenthood use its own curriculum? Well the answer I found was that they are. The following excerpt is located at "From The Home Front". As shown, Jane Jimenez links Planned Parenthood to SEICUS. I was astounded to discover another interesting link. "Given the history of the founders of SIECUS, it is no surprise to learn where their seed money came from. Years later Christie Hefner wrote, “Through the Playboy Foundation, Hefner put his money where his mouth was. It made the initial grant to establish an Office of Research Services” for SIECUS in the late 60s." Is this what we want to train and inform our children about? The next Board of Education meeting was scheduled for Monday, May 19th. We have heard that this has been changed to Tuesday, May 20th. Shouldn't a date change like this be reflected in the district website? Shouldn't this information be sent home to notify concerned parents?
We
had a wonderful turnout at the board meeting and eight of the concerned citizens
used their 'Public Comment Time' to make statements and ask questions of the
board members (as we have been denied docket time), and then the Board President
notified the public that no more comments could be made because the board needed
to conduct their business. The concerned citizens were also told that the
'comment time' was for comments only and not for interactive discussion with the
board, which is why our concerns were heard, but not discussed and no answers
given. The concerns brought up were that by allowing Planned Parenthood
into the school, we are inviting a business that is there to promote their
business's agenda and not the education of our children. One comment
referred to the "Media Silence on the Myth of 'Safe Sex' "(found on
our website of www.notinourschool.com)
and it was referenced "Why are we promoting the 'safe-sex' approach that is
in 75 percent of I believe the concerned citizens left feeling frustrated that the Education Committee considers this a done deal. The Planned Parenthood "Training" of our children begins tomorrow. Three media sources have requested more information and a televised appearance has been offered. If any concerned citizen has an interest to share their thoughts for a televised interview, please contact NotInOurSchool.com (information@notinourschool.com )as soon as possible.
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Please contact us at : information@notinourschool.com |
