After debating the issue for the better part of a year, the Rochester City School District board of education voted 4-3 Thursday night to make condoms available to students in city high schools.

Some parents and students are against the plan, but now that it's been adopted, most students think it's a good idea.

"Not a lot of girls will get pregnant now and it's better to have safe sex than not wearing a condom,” said Dashawn Blocker, student.

District leaders say its abstinence-only program isn't working and now believe there is a public health issue. They point to 600 cases of teen pregnancy annually in Rochester along with increasing numbers of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

However, before making condoms available, students will have to receive educational training.

Gladys Pedraza-Burgos is the chief of Youth Development and Family Services for the city school district.

"This would be an enhancement to the health curriculum. It would be the availability which is very different from distribution. We're not talking about having a jar on teachers’ desks with multi-colored condoms that kids can just grab and run with. We're talking about being very responsible and having these discussions,” said Pedraza-Burgos.

District leaders say once a student completes the enhanced health course, he or she will then be counseled individually before receiving condoms.

Counseling will be provided by health professionals and only those professionals will be allowed to make condoms available to students through a high school's health center or nurse's office.

"You know you're going to get something out of it and you can find out, even if you're not sexually active, you'll find out what you need to know about and what you don't need to know about it,” said Tahlia Scott, student.

Educational opportunities will also be available to parents through the district's Parent University. There they will learn how to speak openly with their children about sex.

"Sometimes this is a difficult discussion to have with kids. I have, often through this whole process, what I've learned is that it's a discussion that is not being had often enough and kids are kind of out on their own device and there's too much information out there,” said Pedraza-Burgos.

The enhanced health curriculum must be approved by the state before it can be implemented. The district's goal is to begin offering the course in September.