NEW YORK: Catholic Archdiocese Forbids Sex Ed In School Building Leased To City

An all-girls Catholic high school in Manhattan will be closing this month, after which the city will take over the building to create an arts magnet middle school. But under the city's lease agreement with the Archdiocese of New York, the new school is forbidden from teaching any of the sex and HIV education classes required by state law.

Under the latest plan for Chelsea’s Clinton School for Writers and Artists, the school is set to move into the St. Michael’s Academy on West 33rd Street as part of a $11.2-million lease agreement drawn up with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, which owns the building. Currently, Manhattan public school students must take at least six state- and city-mandated HIV/AIDS education courses in middle and high school.

But the Department of Education said the Clinton School would be banned from providing its standard sex-ed curriculum at the new location due to stipulations in the department’s deal with the Archdiocese. Clinton School students will instead be forced to travel back to their old building, P.S. 11 at 320 W. 21st St., to take any sex-ed courses. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese did not immediately reply to requests for comment. According to their website, “The Mission of the [Archdiocese's] Department of Education is to bear witness to Jesus Christ through the education, religious formation and spiritual development of the people of God particularly through parishes, schools and institutes of higher learning.”

Private schools are exempted from state sex and HIV education requirements, so of course, Catholic schools don't offer any classes on the subjects. And the Archdiocese of New York is using whatever tricks they can to keep non-Catholic students ignorant as well.