AIDS LESSONS CUT FROM K-6 CURRICULUM : LANCASTER TEACHERS TO RECEIVE GUIDELINES FOR ANSWERING QUESTIONS.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

Kindergarten through sixth-grade pupils in the Lancaster School District no longer will get classroom lessons about AIDS.

Instead, teachers will be given a list of answers - tailored to each grade - that they can use to respond to questions from children.

``I'd like to see more emphasis on stressing the academics, and leaving the social issues to the parents,'' said trustee Greg Tepe, who proposed the change. ``If a question comes up, a teacher will know what answer they can use and they can refer the kid to their parent or guardian if they have any additional questions.''

In 4-1 and 3-2 votes, trustees decided Tuesday night to remove the HIV/AIDS-related curriculum for elementary school students - which in reality was seldom used - and to replace it with guidelines for answering questions.

AIDS education would continue to be a part of class lessons for older youngsters, because it is required by state law in junior high school and high school.

Under the guidelines presented Tuesday night, teachers could tell kindergarten, first- or second-grade pupils that cleanliness is important in combating the spread of germs; that they shouldn't touch another person's blood; and that they should talk to their parents or guardians if they want more information about acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Fifth- and sixth-graders could be told that infected blood and other body fluids spread the human immunodeficiency virus; that saying ``no'' to sex and drugs can almost eliminate the risk of HIV infection; and that they should talk to their parents or guardians if they wanted more information about AIDS.

Superintendent Steve Gocke said he will seek advice from teachers, other district staff, parents and health experts on modifications to the guidelines, officials said.

Seven people told the board Tuesday night not to eliminate the AIDS education, including parents, a nurse and a teacher union representative, and three spoke in favor of the change, officials said.

Val Holt, vice president for legislation for the PTA district that covers the Antelope Valley, told the board that the PTA supports comprehensive health education, and believes HIV/AIDS information should be included in that.

As a parent, she said, she believes AIDS education is necessary.

``I felt the information they presented in the guidelines was a watered down version of what the community supported,'' Holt said in an interview Wednesday. ``You need to say the words `HIV/AIDS.' You can't just say, `Wash your hands and stay away from blood.' They need to know that AIDS kills.''

Lancaster school officials had gone beyond state mandates back in 1993 by allowing AIDS education down to kindergarten. By comparison, Palmdale School District starts AIDS education in sixth grade.

Drafted by a committee of teachers, parents and others after a survey showed 87 percent of parents wanted the district to teach children about AIDS, the Lancaster lessons were tailored to the children's ages.

For example, kindergartners were to be told that AIDS is making lots of grown-ups very sick, that health workers are trying hard to stop AIDS, and that AIDS is hard to get. Sixth-graders were to be told about the importance of prevention, the transmission of HIV and the most effective forms of protection from HIV.

In approving the AIDS education for younger children, trustees required parental permission and allowed individual teachers to decide whether they wanted to teach the subject.

Teachers seldom did: Since 1993 the AIDS curriculum has been taught to five classes outside the junior highs, Tepe said, although teachers indicated they used the curriculum to provide answers to pupils' questions.