Compromise eyed for Polk family classes

By BRIAN McBRIDE
News Chief

BARTOW -- While the decision by the Polk County School Board to remove the Family Dynamics course as a requirement in the high schools may have alarmed local health activists, there may be a compromise in the works to combine the lesson into the ninth grade curriculum.

A formal proposal has yet to be presented, but dialogue from the board suggested that district staff investigate combining critical lessons from both courses into the ninth grade Life Management class, which is mandatory for all students, said Director of Secondary Education Ward Hurst. The combination of the two would address critical health issues facing teenagers today.

"A promise was made to them (board members) that we would combine the best of the best," Hurst said.

The Family Dynamics course was downsized to an elective Tuesday by the school board after repeated requests from high school principals because of complaints from both students and parents. The required Life Management course deals with similar issues such as teen pregnancy and drug abuse, which many found redundant when it was required at the junior or senior level, Hurst said.

And because the course is not required by the state of Florida, the half-credit it carried was known to interfere with state mandated classes.

But that explanation didn't sit well with Polk County Health Director Dr. Daniel Haight, who said the course addressed critical problems affecting Polk children today including the AIDS disease and physical and emotional abuse.

President Stacy Lennox of Teen Voices Teen Choices, a Polk teen pregnancy prevention agency, echoed Haight's comments and offered a lukewarm reception to combining the classes.

"We feel that so much happens in two years that it really needs to be repeated," she said. "But if they can integrate it that would be better than nothing."

But Auburndale High School Principal Jim Partain stressed that the course wouldn't be erased from the system.

"The material being taught is very important," he said. "So we don't want to do away with it all together."