Comprehensive Human Sexuality Education

Comprehensive human sexuality education - content requirements - grant program - appropriation. The act adds certain content requirements for public schools that offer comprehensive human sexuality education, including instruction on consent as it relates to safe and healthy relationships and safe haven laws.

The act prohibits instruction from emphasizing sexual abstinence as the primary or sole acceptable preventive method available to students and prohibits instruction from explicitly or implicitly using shame-based or stigmatizing language or instructional tools; employing gender stereotypes; or excluding the health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals.

If a public school teaches comprehensive human sexuality education, the public school is not required to include instruction on pregnancy outcome options. However, if a public school opts to provide instruction on pregnancy outcome options, it must cover all pregnancy outcome options available.

Current law provides for a comprehensive human sexuality education grant program. The act amends certain provisions of the grant program to:

• Require the department of public health and environment to submit an annual report concerning the outcomes of the grant program indefinitely;
• Add 9 representatives to the oversight entity and require membership of the oversight entity to represent diverse community perspective and make an effort to include committee members who are diverse;
• Require grant applicants to demonstrate a need for money to implement comprehensive human sexuality education; and
• Require that rural public schools or public schools that do not currently offer comprehensive human sexuality education receive priority when selecting grant applicants.

The act prohibits the state board of education from waiving the content requirements for any public school that provides comprehensive human sexuality education. However, the act does not prohibit charter schools or institute charter schools from applying for a waiver.

For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $1,000,000 from the general fund to the department of public health and environment to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)