PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Medical questions on a Florida high school athletic participation form are sparking a bigger conversation about the sexual health and privacy of teenage girls.
Student medical information and privacy came into the spotlight in August after the School District of Palm Beach County launched a new online platform called Aktivate for parents and children to fill out athletic participation forms.
WATCH: Parents of Palm Beach County student-athletes raise privacy concerns
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After a group of parents shared their concerns with submitting their children's medical information digitally, the district said parents could go back to paper forms if they wanted.
But now, another privacy concern is coming to light.
The Florida High School Athletic Association has a series of optional questions on its "Preparticipation Physical Evaluation" form regarding a girl's period and its regularity.
The questions include:
- When was your first menstrual period?
- When was your most recent menstrual period?
- How much time do you usually have from the start of one period to the start of another?
- How many periods have you had in the last year?
- What was the longest time between periods in the last year?
The questions have been on the form for 20 years, but are now are raising concerns about whether they are necessary.
Palm Beach County School Board Chairman Frank Barbieri led a discussion at Wednesday's school board meeting so parents could understand the questions are not a school district decision.
"This is our first opportunity to actually discuss the situation," Barbieri said. "But I also want to make sure the public knows this is not something the board is requiring. It's required by the FHSAA organization and we are in contact with them to see what we can do to modify their position on their form."
READ: FHSAA PHYSICAL EVALUATION FORM
School board members on Wednesday agreed that information is really not necessary and they would like to petition the state to remove those questions from the athletic eligibility form.
The board said it will work on a letter of support to amend the form and will reach out to other school districts to see if they feel the same.
The FHSAA's physical evaluation form states that it must be kept on file at a student-athlete's school.
