JACKSON -- Tobacco and alcohol use and AIDS prevention can be difficult topics for parents to broach with their children, but Missouri education officials want teachers and nurses to give it a try.

So Ruth Lane, a nurse at Jackson High School, will begin teaching an HIV/AIDS prevention course this week to district students. It is part of the comprehensive health education curriculum required by the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP).

Lane said the course, offered over a two-day period, is important for students because of the confusion and misinformation that exists about AIDS and other transmittable diseases. Although some people may not want to discuss the subjects, students need to be informed.

"It isn't enough, but at least it gives them the basics," she said. "I want to keep my kids alive."

HIV/AIDS education isn't always a requirement. It can be an elective or "students can opt out of certain lessons," said Kevin Miller, supervisor for the state HIV/AIDS Prevention Education program. "How it's done is determined by the local school district, so people need to realize that that decision is locally made and in their control."

An 11-member advisory committee approves all aspects of her curriculum before it is heard by students, Lane said. The committee includes school board members and representatives from business and religious communities. All advisers also have children who attend school within the district.

"I didn't think I could go wrong with that kind of support," said Lane, who received American Red Cross certification to teach the course. "Everything has to be approved by them before I can teach it." Lane received a grant for the course.

The MSIP standard makes sure Missouri schools provide students with comprehensive health instruction; it does not require students to take any course. It only offers them information and access. General guidelines are set, but each district must develop its own curriculum.

Some 89 percent of Missouri's schools meet the drug prevention and communicable disease standards through health education classes, according to a survey by the Center for Disease Control.

Miller said he wasn't sure how the other schools were complying.

"I'm guessing this other 10 percent are probably not even aware they are supposed to be doing it," he said.

Curriculum details are not determined by the state, but the MSIP holds districts accountable for maintaining and upgrading state and federal resource, process and performance standards to keep local control of the schools.

"It seems to me that the MSIP program brings to them areas they have ignored," Miller said.

As part of the MSIP, each district is evaluated by investigators on a five-year rotation. Investigators conduct surveys and interviews with faculty, staff, board members and administrators to determine areas of concern. They also review surveys completed by parents in the district.

They prepare a report that is later submitted to the State Board of Education listing areas the district needs to improve within the next year. The board then classifies a district or makes administrative decisions based on a district's poor performance.