PORTLAND, Maine After an outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls, education officials in this city have decided to allow a school health center to make birth control pills available to girls as young as 11.

King Middle School will become the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available, including birth control pills and patches. Condoms have been available at King's health center since 2000.

Students need parental permission to access the school's health center. But treatment is confidential under state law, which allows the students to decide whether to inform their parents about the services they receive.

There are no national figures on how many middle schools provide such services. Most middle schoolers range in age from 11 to 13.

"It's very rare that middle schools do this," said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.

Portland's three middle schools reported 17 pregnancies during the last four years, not counting miscarriages or terminated pregnancies that weren't reported to the school nurse.

The Portland School Committee approved the plan, offered by city health officials, on a 7-2 vote Wednesday night. Whether the prescriptions would be offered this school year or next wasn't immediately clear.

King is the only one of the three schools with a health center, primarily because it has more students who get free or reduced-price lunch, said Lisa Belanger, who oversees Portland's student health centers.

Five of the 134 students who visited King's health center during the 2006-07 school year reported having sexual intercourse, said Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland's school health centers.

Committee member Sarah Thompson, also the mother of a King eighth-grader, supported the policy, even though it made her "uncomfortable."

"I know I've done my job as a parent," Thompson said. "(But there) may be a time when she doesn't feel comfortable coming to me ... (and) not all these kids have a strong parental advocate at home."

Chairman John Coyne opposed the change, saying the roles of social agencies and public schools have blurred over the years. "At some point there needs to be a clearing of the gray lines," he said.

The other "no" vote Wednesday night came from Ben Meiklejohn, who said a parental consent form, which allows students to receive any kind of treatment at the school health center, does not clearly define the services being offered.

Some opponents cited religious and health objections.

"We are dealing with children," said Diane Miller, a former school nurse said. "I am just horrified at the suggestion."

Another opponent, Peter Doyle, said he felt the proposal violated the rights of parents and puts students at risk of cancer because of hormones in the pill.

Supporters said a small number of students at King are sexually active, but they need better access to birth control.

"This isn't encouraging kids to have sex. This is about the kids who are engaging in sexually activity," Richard Veilleux said.

At King, birth control prescriptions will be given after a student undergoes a physical exam by a physician or nurse practitioner, Belanger said.

Nationally, about one-fourth of student health centers that serve at least one grade of adolescents 11 and older dispense some form of contraception, said Mohan, whose Washington-based organization represents more than 1,700 school-based centers nationwide.

A high school in Topeka, Kan., stopped providing free condoms to students Wednesday after district officials learned of the month-old program. The district has a policy against providing contraceptives.

WHAT!!!!!! Kids are getting started that young now???!!!! OMG Where are the parents and what happened to spending time with your children and teaching them to wait for real love....when they are much older!!!!

WHAT!!!!!! Kids are getting started that young now???!!!! OMG Where are the parents and what happened to spending time with your children and teaching them to wait for real love....when they are much older!!!!

WHAT!!!!!! Kids are getting started that young now???!!!! OMG Where are the parents and what happened to spending time with your children and teaching them to wait for real love....when they are much older!!!!

sorry, kept getting an error message.....I didn't think that it posted.

Sex in adolescence should not be happening in our society. We are losing in the battle of taking responsibility.

all the hormones in milk are catching up with us....too young....

I was just abou to post about this and then i saw this.....i too was wondering what ppl thought of this?

This is happening in the town next to me and I am very upset.
Parents have to sign a release in order for this to happen, but as soon as a release form is signed the parents are in the dark.
The staff and the child does not have to tell the parents if the recieved the morning after pill or are put on a birth control package.
Parents that agree with this are not taking the responsibilities of their own. My daughter who is 16 years old is not sexually active due to her and I having an open relationship with eachother.She is going to be put on birth control next week just to have it started so if she does become sexually active she will already have this in her system.

What are these parents and school staff telling these children?
at 11-14 years in age this is just disgusting.

How hard would it be to put together an assembly for these junior high students? Bring in people that can have a big impact on those kids...struggling young mothers, maybe someone with HIV, etc. to tell their stories. I think this could push them closer to abstinence. Maybe I'm dreaming, but this is what I would reccomend. No way would I keep my daughters at a school that openly offered contraceptives. That definitely send the wrong message and half the time they don't work anyway.

When a society promotes clothing designed for the older teens, resized and thought to be 'cute' on a five year old, one can expect to see adult behaviours being adopted by younger and younger children.

When a society freely promotes electronic games full of violence and sexual innuendo, younger and younger children will adopt adult behaviours.

When a child has access to all forms of media, both lurid and otherwise, with no parental supervision, they will adopt adult behaviours.

Kids are taught what they know.

And with a society laden with instant gratification, quick fix, blame someone else, and pass on the responsibilities, attitudes, what do you expect?

Hormones in the foods Bill? It has some precedence, however treating the symptoms with more hormones, (the pill) is only band-aiding a far greater social dis-ease.