“Seventh- and eighth-grade students attending the three Roman Catholic grade schools in Bismarck will attend school at St. Mary’s Central High School next fall to create space at the elementary level temporarily. Officials are talking about building a new school.”

Read the full story . . .

“Catholic education has had an important role in the fulfilling the lives of citizens of Bismarck and Mandan. For the Catholic parishes, parochial schools have been an issue of faith, shaping the student’s spirit as well as his or her mind. To see Catholic education here reinvigorated and looking toward tomorrow bodes well for the community.”

Read more: http://bismarcktribune.com/news/opinion/editorial/catholic-schools-unification-makes-sense/article_91778440-58ab-11e1-b082-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1meQDzW7e

Read the column and take action.

By a vote of 43 – 4.  The bill now goes to Governor Dalrymple.

The House just passed House Bill 1229 by a vote of 83 – 10 – 1.  Thank you for all the calls and emails in support of the bill.

The Senate now votes on the conference committee and report and the bill.

The conference committee on House Bill 1229 has finally finished work on House Bill 1229, which would establish criteria for abstinence education in North Dakota Schools.

What: Contact your House and Senate members and ask them that you support true abstinence education and to accept the conference committee report and vote yes on HB 1229.

When: Now!  The chambers could vote on the bill as early as this (Tuesday) afternoon.

Where: North Dakota Legislative Assembly or 1-888-635-3447

House Bill 1229, as amended by the Senate, establishes guidelines for what is considered abstinence education in the public schools.

House and Senate conferees have met at least eight times without coming to an agreement.  Among the sticking points:

• Some conferees are resisting any reference to marriage;
• Some conferees are resisting any criteria for what is abstinence eduction;
• Some conferees are confusing the health benefits of abstinence until marriage with the moral concepts of chastity.

Passage of House Bill 1229 with clear guidelines about teaching the benefits of abstinence until marriage is necessary for several reasons:

• The term “abstinence education” has been co-opted an used to teach about “alternative sexual relationships,” contraception, and acceptance of “safe” sex outside of marriage as the norm.
• The state’s own Department of Public Instruction attempted to partner with Planned Parenthood and the anti-abstinence organization SEICUS to train school personnel and call it “abstinence-based.”
• Programs that emphasize avoiding pregnancy, but not abstinence until marriage can sometimes reduce the rate of pregnancy among teens, but are counter-productive when it comes to preventing out-of-wedlock pregnancy and the health dangers, such as infertility, among young adults.
• Real abstinence-based instruction that includes teaching about the importance of abstaining from sexual activity until marriage has been used in some North Dakota schools and has been positively received.  The legislature heard no testimony that the children of single parents were stigmatized or harmed by these programs.
• Although the state often leaves subject matter questions to local school districts, “local control” is no excuse for denying our children the truth about the health benefits of abstinence until marriage.

Contact your representatives and tell them you support real guidelines for abstinence education that include teaching about the benefits of abstinence until marriage.

House Bill 1199, to study the state’s guardianship services and provide limited funding for professional guardians during the interim has passed both chambers.  Thank you for the calls and emails.

House Bill 1229, the abstinence education bill is still stalled.  Keep the emails and calls coming in favor of including abstinence until marriage in public school health curricula.

House Bill 1229, as amended by the Senate, establishes guidelines for what is considered abstinence education in the public schools.

House and Senate conferees have met at least five times and have not come to an agreement.  Among the sticking points:

• Some conferees are resisting any reference to marriage;
• Some conferees are resisting any criteria for what is abstinence eduction;
• Some conferees are confusing the health benefits of abstinence until marriage with the moral concepts of chastity.

Passage of House Bill 1229 with clear guidelines about teaching the benefits of abstinence until marriage is necessary for several reasons:

The term “abstinence education” has been co-opted an used to teach about “alternative sexual relationships,” contraception, and acceptance of “safe” sex outside of marriage as the norm.
The state’s own Department of Public Instruction attempted to partner with Planned Parenthood and the anti-abstinence organization SEICUS to train school personnel and call it “abstinence-based.”
Programs that emphasize avoiding pregnancy, but not abstinence until marriage can sometimes reduce the rate of pregnancy among teens, but are counter-productive when it comes to preventing out-of-wedlock pregnancy and the health dangers, such as infertility, among young adults.
Real abstinence-based instruction that includes teaching about the importance of abstaining from sexual activity until marriage has been used in some North Dakota schools and has been positively received.  The legislature heard no testimony that the children of single parents were stigmatized or harmed by these programs.

Contact your representatives and tell them you support real guidelines for abstinence education that include teaching about the benefits of abstinence until marriage.

The conference committee members are:

Rep. David Rust
Rep. Mark Sanford
Rep. Phil Mueller
Sen. Gary Lee
Sen. Larry Luick
Sen. Joan Heckaman

The state House of Representatives has passed SB 2317 by a vote of 91 – 1.  The bill will allows certain individuals to teach religious studies courses in nonpublic schools and allow two units of religious studies to count toward the high school graduation requirements.

The bill now goes to Governor Dalrymple for his consideration.