This bill revises provisions governing sex education, as discussed below.
PRESENT LAW
Under present law, if the most recent, annual data maintained by the department of health, state center for health statistics, indicate that pregnancy rates in any county exceeded 19.5 pregnancies per 1,000 females 15 through 17 years of age, then every LEA within the county must locally devise, adopt, and implement a program of family life education in conformance with the curriculum guidelines established for such programs by present law. Present law requires the state board of education to adopt a complete family life curriculum suitable for implementation by an LEA that fails to develop, adopt, and implement a local curriculum of family life as required.
Present law authorizes an LEA to utilize the services of a qualified healthcare professional or social worker to assist in teaching family life, but the LEA may not utilize the services of any individual or organization to assist in teaching family life if that individual or organization endorses student nonabstinence as an appropriate or acceptable behavior, or if that individual or organization promotes gateway sexual activity. Present law sets out in detail the requirements and topics for the family life curriculum, to the extent that the topic and the manner of communication is age-appropriate. The requirements include: emphatically promoting only sexual risk avoidance through abstinence, regardless of a student's current or prior sexual experience; educating students on the age of consent, puberty, pregnancy, childbirth, sexually transmitted diseases, including but not limited to HIV/AIDS, and the financial and emotional responsibility of raising a child; and informing students, in all LEAs, concerning the process of adoption and its benefits.
Present law requires notification to parents prior to commencing instruction of the family life curriculum; provides for parents examining materials and excusing their children from any portion of the instruction; provides a mechanism for parents to file complaints regarding the instruction; and provides a cause of action by a parent if a student receives instruction by an instructor or organization that promotes gateway sexual activity or demonstrates sexual activity.
THIS BILL
This bill deletes the present law family life curriculum provisions and replaces them with a requirement for all LEAs and public charter schools that serve grades K-12 to provide students with a medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education that teaches students:
(1) The benefits of abstinence and delaying sexual activity;
(2) The importance of effectively using contraceptives and barrier methods to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV);
(3) The age of consent, and that an affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in a sexual activity is required for valid consent;
(4) How sexual activity results in pregnancy and the effects of pregnancy;
(5) How to communicate with a parent or other trusted adult about sex;
(6) How to develop the relationship and communication skills to form healthy, respectful relationships free of violence, coercion, and intimidation; and
(7) How to make healthy decisions about relationships and sexual activity.
This bill specifies that the sex education must be appropriate for students regardless of the student's gender, race, disability status, or sexual orientation. This bill requires the department of education to develop a sex education curriculum that complies with this bill, and requires an LEA or public charter school to implement the curriculum developed by the department or to develop its own sex education curriculum that complies with this bill. If an LEA or public charter school develops its own sex education curriculum, then the LEA or public charter school must submit the curriculum to the department of education for approval. This bill prohibits an LEA or public charter school from implementing any sex education curriculum it has developed unless it has been approved by the department of education.
Similar to present law, this bill requires each LEA and public charter school to notify parents of students who will receive the instruction that:
(1) Sex education is required by state law; and
(2) The parent has the right to examine the instructional materials and to confer with the parent's student's teacher, school counselor, or principal about the sex education required under this section; and to excuse the parent's student from any or all portions of the sex education. A student who is excused from any or all portions of the sex education will not be penalized for grading purposes if the student satisfactorily performs alternative health lessons.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 2-1-116(c), 2-1-116