College Board Delays AIDS Policy Debate

The Ventura County Community College District Board tonight is expected to delay adopting a revision of its AIDS education policies because district officials said they are not ready to present a report.

Chancellor Thomas Lakin said he plans to request that the board postpone discussion of the AIDS policy until August, and a majority of the board said they would agree to put off the debate.

Lakin said his staff is still obtaining information about state and federal laws that would affect the proposed policy.

“This whole thing is too sensitive . . . not to be very, very thorough,” Lakin said.

The policy recommends encouraging people who are HIV positive to disclose their status to people “when the health or safety of those individuals may be at risk.”

The policy was drafted by the AIDS Task Force, a committee of students, faculty, administrators and local residents. At last month’s meeting, a majority of the board said they favored the recommendation on disclosure.

Last year, the board rejected a broad revision of the district’s AIDS education policies because students, faculty and community members were not able to participate in drafting the proposal.

The proposed policy does not mention condom distribution, a topic which has been passionately debated among board members. Some board members want to remove condom dispensers at Moorpark and Oxnard colleges, which are allowed under the current AIDS policy.

Although board member Allan Jacobs said he is willing to delay it for a month, he is getting impatient.

“I felt we should have adopted a new policy a long time ago,” Jacobs said. “Well, we’ve waited this long, one more month isn’t going to make a difference.”