Omaha high school students this fall will do something the school board has not allowed them to do since the mid-1990s: answer questions about sexual behavior on a federal survey.

Omaha Public Schools board members had previously worried about how the data would be used and noted that students from private high schools were not asked to participate in the survey.

Monday night, however, they unanimously dismissed those concerns in favor of letting organizations and the community learn more about students' behaviors.

"We want the information, even if it is misused," said board member Sandra Jensen.

The longer version of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey asks about 90 questions, including ones about sexual and violent behavior.

This fall, OPS high school students had been scheduled to take a shortened survey that asks only about tobacco, nutrition and exercise habits.

Last month, the OPS board curriculum committee voted 4-2 against administering the longer survey, with Justin Wayne and Freddie Gray in favor of the broader survey.