Spencerport's Cosgrove school stops FACTS program

Because of the distribution of an unauthorized survey, Spencerport's Cosgrove school has suspended the FACTS program. FACTS is an abstinence based health education program geared toward sixth-grade students.

"The issue came up that a guest speaker from FACTS distributed a survey to students," Diane Zielinski, the district's public relations specialist said. According to the curriculum, a pre-test was to have been administered, but instead a survey was circulated which questioned students about attitudes and knowledge of sexual issues.

The FACTS program is funded by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The curriculum was reviewed by the district's health advisory council but the survey was not included in the materials. The purpose of the survey was to gauge student attitudes and opinions before and after the program.

Once the district became aware of the survey, letters of apology were issued to parents, all surveys in the district were collected and destroyed, the FACTS program was suspended and the district will utilize Spencerport teachers to teach the district's health curriculum.