This bill requires the State Board of Education to rescind the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education, which were adopted on June 3, 2020, and prohibits the board from adopting any future standards or curriculum requirements in these subjects. Instead, local boards of education must establish a Parental Advisory Committee to collaborate on developing new curriculum standards for health and physical education. The committee is mandated to reflect the demographics of parents and guardians in the district, hold open meetings, and make their recommendations publicly available on the school district's website. Local boards are required to adopt these new curriculum standards within 180 days of the bill's enactment.

Furthermore, the bill amends existing laws to align with the new local standards, ensuring that instruction on critical topics such as suicide prevention, sexual abuse, and substance abuse remains a requirement. However, it removes the obligation for the Department of Education to provide sample learning activities or resources to local districts on these subjects, thereby emphasizing local control over curriculum development while ensuring essential health education topics are still included in instruction. The act is set to take effect 180 days after its enactment.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 18A:6-111, 18A:6-113, 18A:7F-4.3, 18A:35-4.5, 18A:35-4.23, 18A:35-4.26, 18A:35-4.28, 18A:35-4.33, 18A:35-4.38, 18A:35-4.39, 18A:35-4.40, 18A:35-5.4, 18A:40A-2.1