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7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill amends provisions related to health education.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 ▸ requires the State Board of Education (state board) to establish curriculum
13 requirements that include instruction in:
14 • sexual violence behavior prevention; and
15 • sexual assault resource strategies;
16 ▸ amends provisions related to when a student receives health education instruction;
17 ▸ requires a local education agency (LEA) to review data on sexual assault for each
18 county in which the LEA is located;
19 ▸ amends requirements for parental consent for sex education; and
20 ▸ defines terms.
21 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
22 None
23 Other Special Clauses:
24 None
25 Utah Code Sections Affected:
26 AMENDS:
27 53G-10-402, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapters 354 and 408
28 53G-10-403, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 293
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30 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
31 Section 1. Section 53G-10-402 is amended to read:
32 53G-10-402. Instruction in health -- Parental consent requirements -- Conduct
33 and speech of school employees and volunteers -- Political and religious doctrine
34 prohibited.
35 (1) As used in this section:
36 (a) "LEA governing board" means a local school board or charter school governing
37 board.
38 (b) "Refusal skills" means instruction:
39 (i) in a student's ability to clearly and expressly refuse sexual advances by a minor or
40 adult;
41 (ii) in a student's obligation to stop the student's sexual advances if refused by another
42 individual;
43 (iii) informing a student of the student's right to report and seek counseling for
44 unwanted sexual advances;
45 (iv) in sexual harassment; and
46 (v) informing a student that a student may not consent to criminally prohibited
47 activities or activities for which the student is legally prohibited from giving consent, including
48 the electronic transmission of sexually explicit images by an individual of the individual or
49 another.
50 (c) "Sexual assault resource strategies" means tools a student can use to get help to
51 address the physical and psychological effects of sexual assault if the student is sexually
52 assaulted.
53 (d) "Sexual violence behavior prevention education" means instruction that:
54 (i) leads to a student understanding that no one has the right to touch an individual in a
55 sexual manner if that individual does not want to be touched;
56 (ii) is free from victim shaming;
57 (iii) focuses on developing a student's communication skills so that the student is able
58 to communicate about, and show respect for, other individuals' boundaries; and
59 (iv) provides information about the early signs of:
60 (A) coercion;
61 (B) emotional manipulation; and
62 (C) grooming strategies.
63 (2) (a) The state board shall establish curriculum requirements under Section
64 53E-3-501 that include instruction in:
65 (i) community and personal health;
66 (ii) physiology;
67 (iii) personal hygiene;
68 (iv) prevention of communicable disease;
69 (v) refusal skills; [
70 (vi) the harmful effects of pornography[
71 (vii) sexual violence behavior prevention education; and
72 (viii) sexual assault resource strategies.
73 (b) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the
74 state board shall make rules that, and instruction shall:
75 (i) stress the importance of abstinence from all sexual activity before marriage and
76 fidelity after marriage as methods for preventing certain communicable diseases;
77 (ii) stress personal skills that encourage individual choice of abstinence and fidelity;
78 (iii) prohibit instruction in:
79 (A) the intricacies of intercourse, sexual stimulation, or erotic behavior;
80 (B) the advocacy of premarital or extramarital sexual activity; or
81 (C) the advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraceptive methods or devices; and
82 (iv) except as provided in Subsection (2)(d), allow instruction to include information
83 about contraceptive methods or devices that stresses effectiveness, limitations, risks, and
84 information on state law applicable to minors obtaining contraceptive methods or devices.
85 (c) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the
86 state board shall make rules for an LEA governing board that adopts instructional materials
87 under Subsection (2)(g)(ii) that:
88 (i) require the LEA governing board to report on the materials selected and the LEA
89 governing board's compliance with Subsection (2)(h); and
90 (ii) provide for an appeal and review process of the LEA governing board's adoption of
91 instructional materials.
92 (d) The state board may not require an LEA to teach or adopt instructional materials
93 that include information on contraceptive methods or devices.
94 (e) (i) At no time may instruction be provided, including responses to spontaneous
95 questions raised by students, regarding any means or methods that facilitate or encourage the
96 violation of any state or federal criminal law by a minor or an adult.
97 (ii) Subsection (2)(e)(i) does not preclude an instructor from responding to a
98 spontaneous question as long as the response is consistent with the provisions of this section.
99 (f) The state board shall recommend instructional materials for use in the curricula
100 required under Subsection (2)(a) after considering evaluations of instructional materials by the
101 State Instructional Materials Commission.
102 (g) An LEA governing board may choose to adopt:
103 (i) the instructional materials recommended under Subsection (2)(f); or
104 (ii) other instructional materials in accordance with Subsection (2)(h).
105 (h) An LEA governing board that adopts instructional materials under Subsection
106 (2)(g)(ii) shall:
107 (i) ensure that the materials comply with state law and board rules;
108 (ii) base the adoption of the materials on the recommendations of the LEA governing
109 board's Curriculum Materials Review Committee; and
110 (iii) adopt the instructional materials in an open and regular meeting of the LEA
111 governing board for which prior notice is given to parents of students attending the respective
112 schools and an opportunity for parents to express their views and opinions on the materials at
113 the meeting.
114 (3) (a) A student shall receive age-appropriate instruction in the courses described in
115 Subsection (2) on at least two occasions during the period that begins with the beginning of
116 grade [
117 (b) At the request of the state board, the Department of Health shall cooperate with the
118 state board in developing programs to provide instruction in those areas.
119 (4) (a) The state board shall adopt rules that:
120 (i) provide that the parental consent requirements of Sections 76-7-322 and 76-7-323
121 are complied with; and
122 (ii) require a student's parent to be notified in advance and have an opportunity to
123 review the information for which parental consent is required under Sections 76-7-322 and
124 76-7-323.
125 (b) The state board shall also provide procedures for disciplinary action for violation of
126 Section 76-7-322 or 76-7-323.
127 (5) (a) In keeping with the requirements of Section 53G-10-204, and because school
128 employees and volunteers serve as examples to their students, school employees or volunteers
129 acting in their official capacities may not support or encourage criminal conduct by students,
130 teachers, or volunteers.
131 (b) To ensure the effective performance of school personnel, the limitations described
132 in Subsection (5)(a) also apply to a school employee or volunteer acting outside of the school
133 employee's or volunteer's official capacities if:
134 (i) the employee or volunteer knew or should have known that the employee's or
135 volunteer's action could result in a material and substantial interference or disruption in the
136 normal activities of the school; and
137 (ii) that action does result in a material and substantial interference or disruption in the
138 normal activities of the school.
139 (c) The state board or an LEA governing board may not allow training of school
140 employees or volunteers that supports or encourages criminal conduct.
141 (d) The state board shall adopt, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
142 Administrative Rulemaking Act, rules implementing this section.
143 (e) Nothing in this section limits the ability or authority of the state board or an LEA
144 governing board to enact and enforce rules or take actions that are otherwise lawful, regarding
145 educators', employees', or volunteers' qualifications or behavior evidencing unfitness for duty.
146 (6) Except as provided in Section 53G-10-202, political, atheistic, sectarian, religious,
147 or denominational doctrine may not be taught in the public schools.
148 (7) (a) An LEA governing board and an LEA governing board's employees shall
149 cooperate and share responsibility in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
150 (b) An LEA governing board shall provide appropriate professional development for
151 the LEA governing board's teachers, counselors, and school administrators to enable them to
152 understand, protect, and properly instruct students in the values and character traits referred to
153 in this section and Sections 53E-9-202, 53E-9-203, 53G-10-202, 53G-10-203, 53G-10-204,
154 and 53G-10-205, and distribute appropriate written materials on the values, character traits, and
155 conduct to each individual receiving the professional development.
156 (c) An LEA governing board shall make the written materials described in Subsection
157 (7)(b) available to classified employees, students, and parents of students.
158 (d) In order to assist an LEA governing board in providing the professional
159 development required under Subsection (7)(b), the state board shall, as appropriate, contract
160 with a qualified individual or entity possessing expertise in the areas referred to in Subsection
161 (7)(b) to develop and disseminate model teacher professional development programs that an
162 LEA governing board may use to train the individuals referred to in Subsection (7)(b) to
163 effectively teach the values and qualities of character referenced in Subsection (7).
164 (e) In accordance with the provisions of Subsection (5)(c), professional development
165 may not support or encourage criminal conduct.
166 (8) An LEA governing board shall review every two years:
167 (a) LEA governing board policies on instruction described in this section;
168 (b) for a local school board, data for each county that the school district is located in,
169 or, for a charter school governing board, data for the county in which the charter school is
170 located, on the following:
171 (i) teen pregnancy;
172 (ii) child sexual abuse; [
173 (iii) sexually transmitted diseases and sexually transmitted infections; and
174 (iv) sexual assault; and
175 (c) the number of pornography complaints or other instances reported within the
176 jurisdiction of the LEA governing board.
177 (9) If any one or more provision, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this
178 section, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is found to be
179 unconstitutional, the balance of this section shall be given effect without the invalid provision,
180 subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word.
181 Section 2. Section 53G-10-403 is amended to read:
182 53G-10-403. Required parental consent for sex education instruction.
183 (1) As used in this section:
184 (a) (i) "Sex education instruction" means any course material, unit, class, lesson,
185 activity, or presentation that, as the focus of the discussion, provides instruction or information
186 to a student about:
187 (A) sexual abstinence;
188 (B) human sexuality;
189 (C) human reproduction;
190 (D) reproductive anatomy;
191 (E) physiology;
192 (F) pregnancy;
193 (G) marriage;
194 (H) childbirth;
195 (I) parenthood;
196 (J) contraception;
197 (K) HIV/AIDS;
198 (L) sexually transmitted diseases; or
199 (M) refusal skills, sexual violence behavior prevention education, or assault resource
200 strategies as those terms are defined in Section 53G-10-402.
201 (ii) "Sex education instruction" does not include child sexual abuse prevention
202 instruction described in Section 53G-9-207.
203 (b) "School" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-10-205.
204 (2) (a) A school shall obtain prior written consent from a student's parent before the
205 school may provide sex education instruction to the student.
206 (b) A school shall ensure that the written consent described in Subsection (2)(a):
207 (i) includes a brief explanation of the topics that the school will cover in sex education
208 instruction that is specific enough to give a parent fair notice;
209 (ii) identifies the curricular materials that the school will use to provide sex education
210 instruction;
211 (iii) provides an opportunity for a parent to review the curricular materials described in
212 Subsection (2)(b)(ii), including, where applicable, a link to curricular materials that can be
213 viewed online; and
214 (iv) where applicable, includes a warning that the topics or materials may cause
215 distress to a student who has experienced sexual assault.
216 (3) If a student's parent chooses not to have the student participate in sex education
217 instruction, a school shall:
218 (a) waive the requirement for the student to participate in the sex education instruction;
219 or
220 (b) provide the student with a reasonable alternative to the sex education instruction
221 requirement.
222 (4) In cooperation with the student's teacher or school, a parent shall take responsibility
223 for the parent's student's sex education instruction if a school:
224 (a) waives the student's sex education instruction requirement in Subsection (3)(a); or
225 (b) provides the student with a reasonable alternative to the sex education instruction
226 requirement described in Subsection (3)(b).
227 (5) A student's academic or citizenship performance may not be penalized if the
228 student's parent chooses not to have the student participate in sex education instruction as
229 described in Subsection (3).