Free condoms now officially being handed out in Montgomery County high schools

ROCKVILLE, Md. (ABC7) — As of October 1, free condoms are now available for distribution at all 25 high schools in Montgomery County.

The county's chief health officer says the program is needed due to a spike in sexually transmitted infections in the area, including double digit increases in both chlamydia and gonorrhea.

"Particularly what was troubling for chlamydia was that of the nearly 4,000 cases in Montgomery County in 2017, over 20 percent, I want to say 25 percent of those cases impacted 15 to 19-year-old young women," said Dr. Travis Gayles, Chief Health Officer for Montgomery County.

Of the roughly 900 gonorrhea cases Montgomery County saw in 2017, he says 20 percent of those were also 15 to 19-year-olds.

"That raised the alarm," he said. "Anytime there's a public health sense of urgency, we have to mount a response."

The condom availability and education program in high schools is part of that response.

It started out as a pilot program, offering condoms at four high schools. In September, the school board voted to expand that program to include all 25 high schools in the district.

On October 1, the new policy took effect. It allows students to visit their high school's health center and get free condoms from the school nurse.

On its website, the district said students that make the request would receive the condoms in a small brown paper bag which contains five condoms. The policy says the nurse will also speak to those students and work to educate them about sexually transmitted infections.

At a public meeting on Thursday night, parents got their first chance to speak face-to-face with health and school district officials about

how the change will impact their kids.

Only a few parents showed up to the meeting, and several in attendance said they support the new policy. But they still have questions about exactly how it will work.

"My mother was 15 when she had me, so I completely agree with the concept of educating these children and providing them tools," said one father. "But culturally speaking, it's taboo to speak about this in Hispanic culture. You talk about sex, you're going to have sex. You talk about drugs, you're going to do drugs. It's almost a just don't do it conversation."

Another parent asked if she would be notified if her child requests and receives condoms - something the school district is not allowed to do.

That's because Maryland state law states that a minor has the same capacity as an adult to consent to treatment for or advice about venereal disease, treatment for or advice about pregnancy, and treatment for or advice about contraception other than sterilization.

Montgomery County Public Schools previously held an online community conversation to answer parents' questions about the policy. That video can be viewed here.

A list of frequently asked questions and answers are also available online.

As for the cost of the program, MCPS officials say the Department of Health and Human Services will provide high schools in the district about 4,000 condoms a month that it gets from the state. If more than 4,000 condoms a month are needed, the estimated cost is less than $90 per 1,000 condoms.