MILWAUKEE (WRN) - School nurses in Milwaukee will start handing out free condoms to high school students as early as next fall.

The School Board voted 7 to 0 Thursday night in favor of what’s being called the “Communicable Disease Prevention Program.” It was proposed after a study showed that almost two-thirds of Milwaukee public high school students are sexually active – and a-third of those kids don’t use condoms. Supporters also pointed to relatively high rates of teen births and sexually transmitted diseases.

There was some opposition when the program was first suggested, but there was little dissent at Thursday night’s board meeting. Under the new program, condoms will only be given out at schools with nurses – and the students will have to go to those nurses to ask for them. They can get up 2 at a time. They’ll be funded privately, with no tax money being used.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control say only 4.5 percent of the nation’s high schools make condoms available to students.