Ohio: Two Stories, One State

HIV Prevention Guidelines for Ohio Schools

The Ohio Department of Education is working with the University of Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center to create HIV Prevention Guidelines for Ohio Schools. The Guidelines will address HIV prevention through the coordinated school health lens and include an implementation toolkit to help school districts plan and implement evidence-based curricula, programs and services that are age appropriate, cultural relevant and sustainable.

Comprehensive Sexuality Education

In 2002, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) adopted a Comprehensive Health Plan based on two national models – the Surgeon General’s Healthy People 2010 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Comprehensive School Health Program. Developed with broad community support and involvement, the plan was intended to “improve the health and well-being of the District’s students, families, and staff” (CMSD, 2006). It includes four goals focused on responsible sexual behavior among students:

1. Prevention of school-age parenthood;

2. Support for pregnant and parenting school-age students;
3. Prevention of the transmission of STDs, including HIV/AIDS, to students; and

4. Support for students living with STDs, including HIV/AIDS.

The Responsible Sexual Behavior Initiative, which was implemented in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) beginning in the Fall of 2006, aims to provide comprehensive sexuality education to all students from kindergarten through twelfthgrade within the school district.