AUGUSTA (AP) — Augusta’s school board has voted 7-1 to provide reproductive health services, including pregnancy tests and birth control, to students at Augusta’s Cony High School starting next year.
The board’s vote Wednesday will make the services available to all students in the seventh- through 12th-grade school with parental consent.
Students must also talk with a health care professional first.
A pregnancy prevention coordinator for Maine Family Planning said according to the latest available statistics, Augusta had one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Maine.
The Kennebec Journal (http://bit.ly/1ogQvLQ ) reported that at-large school board member Larry Ringrose cast the opposing vote. He said Cony already provides sex education in health classes and that school officials should focus on academics. He said such services are available elsewhere in the community.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
