Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Prime Minister of Yemen’s Houthi Government Killed in Israeli Strike

3 days ago

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

3 days ago

US Air Force will Offer Military Funeral Honors to Slain Capitol Rioter

4 days ago

US Republican Senator Joni Ernst Will Not Run for Re-Election, CBS News Reports

4 days ago

Wall Street Falls as Dell, Nvidia Drive Tech Losses

4 days ago

US Denies Visas to Palestinian Officials Ahead of UN General Assembly

4 days ago

Minneapolis Children Revealed Courage, Absorbed Fear During Church Shooting

4 days ago

Ford Recalls Nearly 500,000 Vehicles Over Brake Fluid Leak

5 days ago

Fresno-Bound Passenger Says Delta Attendant Slapped Him, Seeks $20M

5 days ago
Who is Taking Bullard Students Off-Campus for Birth Control Pills?
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 6 years ago on
August 23, 2019

Share

Students at Bullard High School are being driven off-campus during the school day to pick up birth control pills in vehicles that aren’t owned by Fresno Unified School District and by people who don’t work for the district, trustee Terry Slatic says.
He’s concerned about the district’s potential liability in the event a student is injured while away from the northwest Fresno campus.

“I said ‘Bob, this is a gallon-sized can of worms.’ “Fresno Unified trustee Terry Slatic
Slatic emphasizes that the issue is not about birth control and students’ access to it. He is aware that California law allows minors to get birth control without parental knowledge or consent.
An Aug. 9 communication to the board in response to queries raised by Slatic provided background about the district’s sexual health education program but did not identify who is driving the students.
Student safety and the district’s potential liability are the overriding concerns, Slatic said he told superintendent Bob Nelson.
“I said ‘Bob, this is a gallon-sized can of worms,’ ” Slatic told GV Wire.

Teens Can Seek Rides to Clinic

Numerous local organizations and clinics offer family planning for teens. The Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission also offers transportation to its clinic for teens ages 13 to 19 through its Health Education and Recruitment Transportation Team, also known as “Teen Transport,” district spokeswoman Vanessa Ramirez said. Students arrange their own appointments without the involvement of school or district staff, she said.
Fresno EOC would be responsible for liability should anything befall the student while in transit, Ramirez said.
Fresno EOC spokeswoman Nasreen Johnson confirmed that the agency is responsible for a student’s safety and for any liability.

Uncertainty About Who is Behind the Wheel

Slatic said he first learned about girls being driven from the Bullard campus by people who aren’t district employees from a parent who contacted him in May and said she had discovered birth control pills while putting away her freshman daughter’s clean laundry.
When the mother asked her daughter about it, the teen said she was told by an instructor in a sex education class how she could obtain free birth control. She told her mother that she was signed up, and maybe a week later she was excused from class and driven downtown to a clinic.
Slatic said he subsequently heard from other Bullard parents who expressed the same concerns that people not on the district payroll were driving students to off-campus sites.

Protocols for Absences

Schools have rules and protocols that require parents to sign permission forms when students leave campus for field trips, and a yellow card or sheet kept in the school office lists the names of the people who are allowed to pick up students, he said.
But that requirement is waived when students are exercising their legal right to engage in confidential health matters, said Amy Idsvoog, a Fresno Unified communications analyst.
“This would be a situation where the yellow emergency card doesn’t apply,” she said.

“The students are not walking into the nurse’s office and saying, ‘Hey, I need to get hooked up with birth control. Can you get me get hooked up, can you make my appointment?’ ” — Fresno Unified communications analyst Amy Idsvoog

School Staff Involvement

Idsvoog said the decision to seek out birth control is completely up to a student. Science teachers and contractors from Fresno Barrios Unidos supply students with sexual health education information, including the names of clinics, but neither encourage or discourage students to sign up for birth control, she said.
School officials might allow the student to use a phone in the office to set up a clinic appointment but play no role otherwise, Idsvoog said.
“They’re not telling students, ‘here, go do this, go sign up for birth control,’ ” she said. “The students are not walking into the nurse’s office and saying, ‘Hey, I need to get hooked up with birth control. Can you get me get hooked up, can you make my appointment?’ ”



Students Get Help With Appointments

But Johnson at the Fresno EOC said health clinic appointments sometimes are arranged by school nurses or counselors, or even parents. Some parents are “super-excited” to learn that free transportation is available so they don’t have to take time off from work, she said.
For example, if a nurse is meeting with a student who thinks she might be pregnant, the nurse might serve as a referral source and call the clinic to set up an appointment for that student, Johnson said.

“But when they’re checked out and are utilizing our transport, we ensure that they’re safe. They’re with staff to ensure that they’re to their appointments, doing what they need to get done, and then right back to school, so they’re not missing class.” — Fresno EOC spokeswoman Nasreen Johnson
She estimated that the clinic sees 100 students a month from districts across the region during the school year. The safety of those needing a ride to and from the clinic is paramount.
“Our transport services ensure they are safe, if they are going to leave for services, and that they return promptly,” Johnson said. “As a parent, I would be concerned if my student checked out at 8:05 right after the bell rang in the morning, and then back in right before school (ends). I would have no assurance that they were safe.
“But when they’re checked out and are utilizing our transport, we ensure that they’re safe. They’re with staff to ensure that they’re to their appointments, doing what they need to get done, and then right back to school, so they’re not missing class.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Authorities Investigate Porterville Shooting

DON'T MISS

Trump’s World Liberty Token Falls in First Day of Trading

DON'T MISS

Bessent Expects Supreme Court to Uphold Legality of Trump’s Tariffs but Eyes Plan B

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Rudy Giuliani Will Receive Top US Civilian Honor

DON'T MISS

Aid Flotilla for Gaza Departs Barcelona After Stormy Weather Turnaround

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

DON'T MISS

US Judge Blocks Deportations of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Guatemala

DON'T MISS

Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet

DON'T MISS

Thousands in Australia March Against Immigration, Government Condemns Rally

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

UP NEXT

Lawsuit Links CA Teen’s Suicide To Artificial Intelligence

UP NEXT

Hearing Ends Without Ruling On Trump’s Firing Of Fed Governor Cook

UP NEXT

Gov. Newsom Launches New Task Force To Clear CA Homeless Encampments

UP NEXT

Fresno Area Schools Prep for Football With Stout Security Measures

UP NEXT

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

UP NEXT

U.S. News Releases Best High School Rankings. How Did Fresno Schools Do?

UP NEXT

Who Did Fresno Unified Hire to Succeed Nikki Henry as Communications Chief?

UP NEXT

Fresno vs. Clovis: Which City Is Cheaper to Live in Right Now?

UP NEXT

Kim Harvey Named Executive Producer of ‘CBS Evening News’

UP NEXT

US CDC Director Ousted Weeks Into Job

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Trump Says Rudy Giuliani Will Receive Top US Civilian Honor

8 hours ago

Aid Flotilla for Gaza Departs Barcelona After Stormy Weather Turnaround

8 hours ago

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

2 days ago

US Judge Blocks Deportations of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Guatemala

2 days ago

Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet

2 days ago

Thousands in Australia March Against Immigration, Government Condemns Rally

2 days ago

Trump Says He Will Order Voter ID Requirement for Every Vote

2 days ago

Greta Thunberg Joins Flotilla Heading for Gaza With Aid

2 days ago

Chicago Mayor Says Police Will Not Aid Federal Troops or Agents

2 days ago

Post-War Gaza Plan Sees Relocation of Population, ‘Digital Token’ for Palestinian Land: Washington Post

2 days ago

Tulare County Authorities Investigate Porterville Shooting

Tulare County sheriff’s deputies are investigating a shooting that left a man injured in Porterville on Monday afternoon. Deputies were call...

6 hours ago

A man was hospitalized after being shot Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, afternoon in Porterville, and Tulare County sheriff’s detectives are investigating. (Tulare County SO)
6 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Investigate Porterville Shooting

Zach Witkoff, Co-Founder and CEO of World Liberty Financial, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump pose before they ring the opening bell to celebrate the closing of ALT5’s $1.5 billion offering and adoption of its $WLFI Treasury Strategy at the Nasdaq Market, in New York City, U.S., August 13, 2025. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

Trump’s World Liberty Token Falls in First Day of Trading

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent pays his bill during a Labor Day visit to McLean Family Restaurant in McLean, Virginia, U.S., September 1, 2025. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
6 hours ago

Bessent Expects Supreme Court to Uphold Legality of Trump’s Tariffs but Eyes Plan B

Former New York City Mayor and former lawyer for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani walks outside United States District Court in Manhattan, where a judge will consider a request by two Georgia election workers to whom he owes $148 million for defamation to hold him in civil contempt for failing to turn over his assets, in New York City, U.S., January 3, 2025. (Reuters File)
8 hours ago

Trump Says Rudy Giuliani Will Receive Top US Civilian Honor

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg departs with other activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian expedition to Gaza, from the port of Barcelona, Spain August 31, 2025. The Sagrada Familia is seen in the background. (Reuters File)
8 hours ago

Aid Flotilla for Gaza Departs Barcelona After Stormy Weather Turnaround

Photo: USDA - Forest Service Tanker 40 at Fresno Air Attack Base. The Fresno County Garnet Fire in the Sierra National Forest has burned 18,748 acres and is 8% contained as crews make progress on containment lines while bracing for possible thunderstorms early this week. (Sam Wu/USFS)
2 days ago

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to 18,748 Acres in Sierra National Forest

U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

US Judge Blocks Deportations of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Guatemala

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, August 31, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
2 days ago

Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend