SEX EDUCATION PROGRAM UNDER SCRUTINY : UNION HIGH DISTRICT TO WEIGH ADDING CLASS STRESSING ABSTINENCE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Saying the existing ninth-grade course on sex education lacks a strong emphasis on abstinence, high school board President Sue Stokka wants to offer a voluntary, alternative course that makes abstinence its main focus.

Stokka said the current course does cover abstinence enough to ``satisfy the law,'' but claims its message gets lost in a sea of information about contraception.

``The prevailing attitude is, `We know you are going to have sex anyway,' '' Stokka said. ``Even though we tell you abstinence is best, here's what to do in case you change your mind.''

The Antelope Valley Union High School District board will discuss the issue at its meeting at 7 p.m. today at the district office, 44811 Sierra Highway.

Stokka had raised the idea at the board's Aug. 21 meeting, but the board desired further discussion before directing the district staff to draw up curriculum for such a course.

Trustee Steve Landaker said he would like to hear more details about what Stokka is proposing.

``Some of the things appear to me we already are covering, but I would like to hear the staff report,'' Landaker said. Landaker also raised the issue of who should assume the role of primary sex educators of children.

``Some of the responsibility needs to go back to parents. We need to help kids to a degree,'' Landaker said.

Stokka said she has three sample programs that can be drawn upon to develop a course, all of which she described as being abstinence-based and stressing the idea of postponing sex until marriage. She said they are in use at other school districts.

``Human beings are superior to animals in their ability to control their sexuality,'' Stokka said.

The three are: ``Save Sex'' from the Austin, Texas-based Medical Institute for Sexual Health; ``Sex Respect,'' authored by Coleen Kelly Mast under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Program; and ``Choices,'' written by Priscilla Hurley of Teen Awareness Inc. of Yorba Linda.

Stokka said the proposed course would not replace the existing course but serve as a voluntary alternative. Parents would be required to be notified of the course's availability every school year.

She noted that the Hemet Unified School District in Riverside County came under fire last year from parents after the board approved the use of a sex education curriculum that preached abstinence and avoided mention of contraception.

``I realize there are people who find the existing program quite acceptable,'' Stokka said. ``This way, if we do it, we will provide a stricter alternative for parents who want this.''

Stokka believes the current course doesn't address the needs of all students, and that parents would be interested in a program that will do more toward building character and personal confidence.

``Learning to say no to premarital, adolescent sex strengthens your character,'' Stokka said. ``Every time you say no to temptation or to doing something you know is wrong, it makes you stronger for the next time and for the bigger problem.''

The proposed curriculum would teach the ``special and extraordinary nature of the gift of chastity one can bring to the marriage bed,'' Stokka said in a written proposal to the board.

She also suggests that the course be taught in classes separated by gender ``in order to preserve the natural modesty of teen-agers, specifically of sexually inexperienced young girls.''

Sex education has been a topic of discussion at the high school district as well as at some other elementary school districts.

The high school district in January barred the Catalyst Foundation for AIDS Awareness and Care from speaking to students after the board objected to some of the group's information.

The board also has clashed over whether to require parental permission before students could be taught about human reproduction, AIDS or venereal diseases.

Palmdale School District trustees declined in June to revise sex education classes, despite assertions that the curriculum is too explicit and not in compliance with state law.

Parent Cyndi Gray charged that the district's Family Life curriculum contains outdated information, undermines parental authority and violates state law because of a lack of emphasis on abstinence.

Gray wanted the board to make changes to the curriculum, including removing the AIDS education portion of the course from sixth-grade classes and segregating sex education classes by gender and having them taught by teachers of the same sex.

The Lancaster School District board decided in June that kindergarten through sixth-grade pupils 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.