centers at Portland High, Deering High, Casco Bay High and West School have provided prescription contraception as part of overall primary health care since 2003, Belanger said.

The King Student Health Center has provided condoms since it opened in 2000, along with counseling and testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, she said.

Contraception would be prescribed after a physical examination by a physician or nurse practitioner, Belanger said.

Types of prescription birth control available through the health centers include contraceptive pills, patches or injections, as well as the morning-after pill. Diaphragms and IUDs are not usually prescribed, she said.

Belanger said health center workers encourage students to tell their parents about their health center experiences, but by law they cannot compel students to do so or inform parents without the student's consent.

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

Moore and Lincoln middle schools don't have health centers, and their students are ineligible for treatment at the King Student Health Center.

Belanger said the top five reasons for visits to the health center last year were, in descending order: immunizations, physical examinations, sore throat, upper respiratory infection and asthma.

Nationally, the top five reproductive health services offered at school-based health centers were, in descending order: pregnancy testing, abstinence counseling, HIV/AIDS counseling, birth control counseling, and the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, according to the national assembly.

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com