High School to make condoms available to students

GERVAIS, OREGON -Students in Gervais will now have access to condoms in the classroom after a unanimous vote by the school board.

Administrators said nine students, one as young as the eighth grade, have gotten pregnant in Gervais this school year.

In a district of 1,100 kids, board members said that's too many.
"It's hard to ignore that," said Brent Lafollette, school board president.

"We need to be taking some kind of action to help our kids." That action is to make condoms available to students in grades six through 12.

They won't just be handed out at random, however. Students will have to talk with a trained health
teacher about why they need the protection before a condom will be given to them.

"If she got it from school, that's fine, that's good," said school board member Molly McCargar, a mom to four daughters. "I'd rather her get it from a trained staff, who's had a conversation with her, than her friends."

Board members said they have received very little pushback on the issue. "It could make them think they could have sex, but
it would be a good thing doing protection and not be like, a teen mom," one seventh-grader said.

Condoms will be available in Gervais schools the next couple weeks before the end of the academic year, but the program is set to go into full effect starting next fall.