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Pacific Cascade @ Cougar Mountain

Your child’s teacher will be teaching the district adopted FLASH (Family Life and Sexual Health) and HIV/AIDS curriculum during this school year. To allow you an opportunity to examine the instructional materials that may be used, there will be 2 public viewings of the materials at the Issaquah School District Administration Center, 5150 220^th Ave SE, Issaquah, WA 98029.  

• Thursday, October 5, 6:00 p.m. (presentation lasts about 1.5 hours) 
• Saturday, October 7, 9:00 a.m. (presentation lasts about 1.5 hours) 

At the appointed time, there will be an informal presentation. Curriculum staff will be available to answer your questions. The passage of SB 5395, Comprehensive Sexual Education Bill, did not impact the District’s adopted sexual health curriculum. Our current sexual health curriculum content meets the requirements of the bill. 

Due to copyright laws, the detailed FLASH lessons and units cannot be shared electronically. If you are unable to attend one of the above sessions, the curriculum materials will be available to preview in the lobby of the District Administration Center during regular business hours, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. daily from September 18 to October 20, 2023. 

FLASH Instruction: 
Under the Federal Hatch Amendment of 1974, all sexual education instructional materials must be available for parent inspection. Parents have the right to exempt their child from sexual health education instruction at any time. The public viewings provide a centralized opportunity to do so.  While it is not required for you to attend the parent preview to exempt your child from sexual education, it is necessary to submit your request in writing to your school principal. This must be done each year. To opt out of FLASH, please email your request to opt out to your student's principal and health teacher.  You may opt out of the entire FLASH unit or individual lessons.  

HIV/AIDS Instruction: Please note – the process of exempting your child from HIV/AIDS education is treated separately from exempting your child from sexual education. 
In recognition of the significant threat that the HIV/AIDS virus presents to the health of the people of our nation, the Washington state legislature passed the Omnibus AIDS Bill in 1988.  This law directs local school districts to provide yearly instruction to students in grades 5-12 about the pathology and prevention of the HIV/AIDS virus.  The law requires that parents/guardians must preview the HIV/AIDS curriculum which is found within the FLASH curriculum, before exempting your child.  This must be done each year. Click here for the opt out form for HIV/AIDS.  

It is not necessary for parents to attend a public review session if they do not intend to exempt their children from HIV/AIDS instruction.  Being familiar with the curriculum will enhance your ability to talk with your children about this serious health threat. FLASH curriculum can be previewed through the King County Department of Public Health.

Contact Information:

• Dawn Wallace, Wallaced@issaquah.wednet.edu, 425-837-7043, grades 6-8 
• Lisa Neighbours, neigboursl@issaquah.wednet.edu, 425-837-7046, grades 9-12 

Your child’s teacher will be teaching the district adopted FLASH (Family Life and Sexual Health) and HIV/AIDS curriculum during this school year. To allow you an opportunity to examine the instructional materials that may be used, there will be 2 public viewings of the materials at the Issaquah School District Administration Center, 5150 220^th Ave SE, Issaquah, WA 98029.  

• Thursday, October 5, 6:00 p.m. (presentation lasts about 1.5 hours) 
• Saturday, October 7, 9:00 a.m. (presentation lasts about 1.5 hours) 

At the appointed time, there will be an informal presentation. Curriculum staff will be available to answer your questions. The passage of SB 5395, Comprehensive Sexual Education Bill, did not impact the District’s adopted sexual health curriculum. Our current sexual health curriculum content meets the requirements of the bill. 

Due to copyright laws the detailed FLASH lessons and units cannot be shared electronically. If you are unable to attend one of the above sessions, the curriculum materials will be available to preview in the lobby of the District Administration Center during regular business hours, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. daily from September 18 to October 20, 2023. 

FLASH Instruction: 
Under the Federal Hatch Amendment of 1974, all sexual education instructional materials must be available for parent inspection. Parents have the right to exempt their child from sexual health education instruction at any time. The public viewings provide a centralized opportunity to do so.  While it is not required for you to attend the parent preview to exempt your child from sexual education, it is necessary to submit your request in writing to your school principal. This must be done each year. To opt out of FLASH, please email your request to opt out to your student's principal and health teacher.  You may opt out of the entire FLASH unit or individual lessons.  

HIV/AIDS Instruction: Please note – the process of exempting your child from HIV/AIDS education is treated separately from exempting your child from sexual education. 
In recognition of the significant threat that the HIV/AIDS virus presents to the health of the people of our nation, the Washington state legislature passed the Omnibus AIDS Bill in 1988.  This law directs local school districts to provide yearly instruction to students in grades 5-12 about the pathology and prevention of the HIV/AIDS virus.  The law requires that parents/guardians must preview the HIV/AIDS curriculum which is found within the FLASH curriculum, before exempting your child.  This must be done each year. Click here for the opt out form for HIV/AIDS.  

It is not necessary for parents to attend a public review session if they do not intend to exempt their children from HIV/AIDS instruction.  Being familiar with the curriculum will enhance your ability to talk with your children about this serious health threat. FLASH curriculum can be previewed through the King County Department of Public Health.

Contact Information:

• Dawn Wallace, Wallaced@issaquah.wednet.edu, 425-837-7043, grades 6-8 
• Lisa Neighbours, neigboursl@issaquah.wednet.edu, 425-837-7046, grades 9-12 

Cougar Mountain @ Beaver Lake

The agenda and meeting details will be posted at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.

Please note the agenda and materials may be modified up to 24 hours prior to the meeting; after that time, any agenda modifications will be addressed at the meeting.

Our school is participating in the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey during fall 2023. At Cougar Mountain Middle School, we will administer the survey to students on October 16, 2023. The survey will be given to students in Grades 6, 8, 10 and 12.

The Healthy Youth Survey includes questions related to physical activity and diet, unintentional and intentional injury, substance use, sexual behaviors, abuse, risk and protective factors, and access to school-based services. Survey results are used by schools, communities, and state agencies to plan programs to support our youth and reduce their risks.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and the students’ answers are anonymous. There are no codes or information used to match a survey to a student.

Please visit the ISD Healthy Youth Survey webpage to read the Parent and Student Notification Letter for more information. You may also visit the Healthy Youth Survey webpage for further details.