School Board Approves Condom Distribution : Health: Students will need written parental consent. The policy is much more restrictive than the one recently enacted in Santa Monica.

Culver City school board members have adopted a condom distribution policy for students considerably more restrictive than the one established last month by the neighboring Santa Monica-Malibu district.

Condoms and other contraceptives will be made available immediately at the community health clinic located on campus between the district’s middle and high schools, but written parental consent will be required before the clinic can dispense them to students.

The health clinic is operated by UCLA and receives its funding from state grants and private foundations. The district provides office space but no funding.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District became the first public school system in Los Angeles County to hand out condoms on campus when boxes containing 800 packets were set up in five locations at Santa Monica High School.

“Our board is conservative compared to other districts,” said Vera Jashni, deputy superintendent for the Culver City Unified School District. The new policy was approved by the board last week.

Jashni said the role of the church and home in influencing young people on such issues as sexuality has diminished, but “we still want to keep parents involved.”

The parental permission requirement will also allow for better follow-up by the health clinic, she said.

After dispensing a contraceptive, the clinic will schedule a consultation 30 days later to ensure that students are following through on use of the contraceptive and to counsel them on any problems they may have.

The board decision does not alter a state law that permits students to receive a referral without parental permission to an outside agency, such as a family planning clinic.

Jashni said the clinic’s advisory committee, which recommended that contraceptives be made available to students with parental permission at the center, may bring the issue back to the board in three to four years.

The 30-member advisory group includes representatives from UCLA, the school district, parents, students, community members, various agencies and City Councilman Steven Gourley.

The school health clinic, which is staffed by a physician, a nurse practitioner and counselors, is located between the district’s middle and high schools at 4401 Elenda St.

Open to students in grades six through 12, the clinic served 700 students during 1991, according to the clinic’s annual report. The clinic also performs physicals for kindergartners and first-graders.