Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Senate File 270 - Introduced
                                  SENATE FILE 270
                                  BY COURNOYER
                                  (COMPANION TO HF 192 BY MOHR)
                            A BILL FOR
An Act relating to child sexual abuse and child sexual assault
  awareness and prevention.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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                                S.F. 270
    Section 1. Section 256.9, subsection 46, paragraph a, Code
 2021, is amended to read as follows:
    a. Develop and make available to school districts, examples
 of age-appropriate and research-based materials and lists
 of resources which parents may use to teach their children
 to recognize unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances,
 to not make unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances,
 to effectively reject unwanted sexual advances, that it is
 wrong to take advantage of or exploit another person, about
 the dangers of sexual exploitation by means of the internet
 including specific strategies to help students protect
 themselves and their personally identifiable information
 from such exploitation, and about counseling, medical, and
 legal resources available to survivors of sexual abuse and
 sexual assault, including resources for escaping violent
 relationships. The materials and resources shall cover verbal,
 physical, and visual sexual harassment, including nonconsensual
 sexual advances, and nonconsensual physical sexual contact,
 and child sexual abuse and child sexual assault awareness and
 prevention. In developing the materials and resource list, the
 director shall consult with entities that shall include but not
 be limited to the departments of human services, public health,
 and public safety, education stakeholders, and parent-teacher
 organizations. School districts shall provide age-appropriate
 and research-based materials and a list of available community
 and internet-based resources to parents at registration and
 shall also include the age-appropriate and research-based
 materials and resource list in the student handbook. School
 districts are encouraged to work with their communities to
 provide voluntary parent education sessions to provide parents
 with the skills and appropriate strategies to teach their
 children as described in this subsection. School districts
 shall incorporate the age-appropriate and research-based
 materials into relevant curricula and shall reinforce the
 importance of preventive measures when reasonable with parents
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                                S.F. 270
 and students.
    Sec. 2. Section 272.2, Code 2021, is amended by adding the
 following new subsection:
    NEW SUBSECTION. 24. Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A
 establishing continuing education requirements for renewal of a
 license, certificate, statement of professional recognition, or
 authorization. Continuing education activities may include but
 are not limited to participating in or presenting at in-service
 training programs on child sexual abuse and sexual assault
 awareness and prevention.
    Sec. 3. Section 279.50, subsection 2, Code 2021, is amended
 to read as follows:
    2. Each school board shall provide age-appropriate and
 research-based instruction in human growth and development
 including instruction regarding human the following:
    a. Human sexuality, self-esteem, stress management,
 interpersonal relationships, domestic abuse, HPV and the
 availability of a vaccine to prevent HPV, and acquired immune
 deficiency syndrome as required in section 256.11, in grades
 one through twelve.
    b. Child sexual abuse and child sexual assault awareness
 and prevention in kindergarten through grade twelve, and in
 prekindergarten if the school district offers a prekindergarten
 program.
    Sec. 4. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance
 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring
 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall
 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid
 received by the school district under section 257.16. This
 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed
 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of
 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding
 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act
 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school
 districts.
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                                         S.F. 270
                                    EXPLANATION
         The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
         the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
    This bill relates to child sexual abuse and sexual assault
 awareness and prevention by providing that continuing education
 activities authorized by the board of educational examiners
 for purposes of renewing a license, certificate, statement
 of professional recognition, or authorization may include
 participating in or presenting at in-service training programs
 on child sexual abuse and child sexual assault awareness and
 prevention. The bill also requires school districts to provide
 age-appropriate and research-based instruction in child sexual
 abuse and child sexual assault awareness and prevention as part
 of its human growth and development instruction in kindergarten
 through grade 12, and in prekindergarten if the school district
 offers a prekindergarten program.
    Currently, the director of the department of education has a
 duty to develop and make available to school districts examples
 of age-appropriate and research-based materials. The bill
 specifies that the age-appropriate and research-based materials
 and resources shall also cover child sexual abuse and child
 sexual assault awareness and prevention.
    The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of
 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school
 district from state school foundation aid received by the
 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification
 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate
 funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The
 inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the
 requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state
 mandates included in the bill.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 256.9, 272.2, 279.50