By SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

Four Canyon Ridge Middle School parents attended the Leander ISD School Board meeting Thursday to protest the contents of the seventh-grade LifeGuard sex education presentation. Additionally, parents were angry that an opt-out letter sent to parents, as well as the preview materials available in the CRMS library, did not accurately reflect the presentation’s contents.

Sex education presentations were to have begun at CRMS on December 4 and have now been postponed.

Veronica Sopher, LISD spokesperson, says that, for now, “We sent out a communication to our parents letting them know that there was an error in the materials that were made available to parents and the materials that were being presented, that they did not align. And that was an oversight. We apologized in the letter and we told parents that we would be delaying the presentations until we could look into it a bit further.”

Parents at the school board meeting were especially concerned that the presentation includes one slide that defines different types of sexual activity.

More than that, parents alleged that the District deliberately misled parents about the presentation in their opt-out letter, made available on the District website. The letter did not indicate that graphic definitions of sexual behaviors would be presented. The letter did indicate that the curriculum is abstinence-based, which it is.

Additionally, preview materials made available to parents in the library were out-of-date and did not include the slide in question.

Cindy Yates, who attended the meeting with her husband Mo, said that, “If they think this is the education that’s needed, stand up and say it. Give us the correct materials to look at. Give the correct opt-out program to look at. And say this is the studies, this is what’s going on in our schools, this is what we’re going to teach you. That’s not what they did.”

Mo added that, “Whether it was was malicious or whether it’s incompetence, neither of them are particularly acceptable.”

LifeGuard presentation is widely used

The LifeGuard presentation has been used in LISD for nine years, and the slide of sexual definitions was added approximately four years ago, according to Corey Tabor, Director of Austin LifeGuard, the organization that contracts with LISD to teach sex education.

He said the slide was added because, “For medical and legal accuracy, we need to define sex.”

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By VAL OLIVAS, Four Points News

Five years ago, Heather Nielson thought that moms who complained about kids bringing peanut butter sandwiches to school were “overprotective worriers.” She thought that food allergies were not that big of a deal.

“Then, my daughter Hope was born, and my whole world was turned upside down,” Nielson said.

Heather Nielson joined the Laura W. Bush Elementary Food Allergy Awareness Committee because her daughter Hope (photoed), who has life-threatening allergies, will be starting kindergarten next fall.

She joined the Laura W. Bush Elementary Food Allergy Awareness Committee because Hope will be starting kindergarten next fall. Hope, 5, has life-threatening allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, sesame and eggs, and she has less serious allergies to many other foods. She also has asthma and eczema.

“I want to make sure that our school is safe for her and for everyone,” Nielson said. “The reality, as crazy as it seems, is that a kid could eat peanut butter at lunch and then touch my daughter at recess, and she could have a severe reaction and die.”

The new Laura W. Bush Elementary Food Allergy Awareness Committee has a purpose to promote awareness, support, education and understanding.
(L-R) Jennifer Mooney, Nicole Gray, Iris Perez, Heather Nielson and Gaby Stockdell. Elizabeth Barnard and Carrie Chavis not pictured. Photo by Veronica Ritter

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Viper Coach Drew Sanders and team.
Photo by Scott W. Coleman

By SCOTT W. COLEMAN, Four Points News

Any team that earns the right to play in the postseason does so with a great deal of emotion. For Vandegrift — reaching the state quarterfinals for the first time after two previous postseason campaigns cut short in the second round — coach Drew Sanders has said that playing with confidence and passion has been a key to the Viper defense’s success in recent weeks.

Now just two wins away from playing for a state title, the Vipers will face another Central Texas team riding high on emotion, as Vandegrift and Austin LBJ meet on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Gupton Stadium.

For Austin LBJ — a team that was bounced from the postseason in the first round by LISD schools each of the last four seasons — emotion is driving the team’s longest playoff run in more than a decade. The Jaguars are pulling out all the stops to honor fallen teammate Jermaine Dillard, who was hit by a car while trying to cross U.S. 183 near Ed Bluestein just a week before the 2014 playoffs began.

LBJ does have talent, but they are clearly the underdog this Saturday facing an explosive Vandegrift team that averages 50 points a game. But, the Jags — who average 42 points a game — have thrived on being the underdog, playing with emotion to honor a fallen teammate this postseason. The Vipers will have their hands full. A quick strike and early lead would go a long way toward giving Vandegrift a shot at playing in next week’s semifinal game against either Temple or George Ranch. Another outstanding defensive effort, though, could make all the difference.

By KIM ESTES, Four Points News

State wildlife authorities say that the recent animal attack in the Hills of West Ridge subdivision of Steiner Ranch was now more likely by a coyote and not a large cat, as previously reported.

Blake Hendon, a wildlife biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, says he and a member of Texas Wildlife Services investigated the incident, in which a Welsh corgi was killed at a private residence in the early morning hours of Nov. 13.

Ultimately, Hendon says, the initial evidence alone was inconclusive.

He adds that tracks at the home did not appear to be the shape or size of a cat and, furthermore, hairs found along the fence and property lines are consistent with a coyote. “Information at the site is that it was highly likely a coyote,” Hendon says.