Health education is a priority

To the Editor:

I had the opportunity to attend the Oceanside School District’s Annual Family Life meeting for fourth, fifth and sixth grade parents on Feb. 16 at School 5.

After sitting through a brief summary of HIV/AIDS education and how it is approached for these grades, the parents in attendance were able to view segments of various videos that are shown to our children. The assumption is that these videos are a starting point and any additional questions on this topic be asked to parents. The videos are coupled with a few sessions of conversation and teaching, but essentially this adds up to a few hours a year.

The Oceanside district over the years has shown strong financial management and has worked small miracles to keep teachers employed and provide quality education to our kids. Joseph Risola is the elementary school health education teacher. That’s it. Unlike other subjects where there is a designated person for each school, Mr. Risola is solely responsible for traveling to each of the six elementary schools and teaching what is probably the most sensitive subject matter to our greatest assets. What is being considered is the elimination of this position and a placement for Mr. Risola in the middle school.