SF 2443

1st Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing for comprehensive 
  1.3             family life and sexuality education programs; 
  1.4             appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 121A; repealing Minnesota 
  1.6             Statutes 2002, section 121A.23, subdivision 2; 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 121A.23, 
  1.8             subdivision 1. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  [121A.231] [COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY LIFE AND 
  1.11  SEXUALITY EDUCATION PROGRAMS.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) "Comprehensive family 
  1.13  life and sexuality education" means education in grades 7 
  1.14  through 12 that: 
  1.15     (1) respects community values and encourages family 
  1.16  communication; 
  1.17     (2) develops skills in communication, decision making, and 
  1.18  conflict resolution; 
  1.19     (3) contributes to healthy relations; 
  1.20     (4) provides human development and sexuality education that 
  1.21  is age appropriate and medically accurate; 
  1.22     (5) promotes responsible sexual behavior, including 
  1.23  abstinence, use of protection, and contraception; and 
  1.24     (6) promotes individual responsibility. 
  1.25     (b) "Age appropriate" refers to topics, messages, and 
  1.26  teaching methods suitable to particular ages or age groups of 
  1.27  children and adolescents, based on developing cognitive, 
  2.1   emotional, and behavioral capacity typical for the age or age 
  2.2   group. 
  2.3      (c) "Medically accurate" means verified or supported by 
  2.4   research conducted in compliance with scientific methods and 
  2.5   published in peer-reviewed journals, where appropriate, and 
  2.6   recognized as accurate and objective by professional 
  2.7   organizations and agencies in the relevant field, such as the 
  2.8   federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American 
  2.9   Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, 
  2.10  or the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 
  2.11     Subd. 2.  [CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS.] (a) A school district 
  2.12  may offer and may independently establish policies, procedures, 
  2.13  curriculum, and services for providing comprehensive family life 
  2.14  and sexuality education that is age appropriate and medically 
  2.15  accurate for grades kindergarten through 6. 
  2.16     (b) A school district must offer and may independently 
  2.17  establish policies, procedures, curriculum, and services for 
  2.18  providing comprehensive family life and sexuality education that 
  2.19  is age appropriate and medically accurate for grades 7 through 
  2.20  12. 
  2.21     Subd. 3.  [NOTICE AND PARENTAL OPTIONS.] (a) It is the 
  2.22  legislature's intent to encourage pupils to communicate with 
  2.23  their parents or guardians about human sexuality and to respect 
  2.24  rights of parents or guardians to supervise their children's 
  2.25  education on these subjects. 
  2.26     (b) A parent or guardian may excuse their child from all or 
  2.27  part of a comprehensive family life and sexuality education 
  2.28  program. 
  2.29     (c) A school district must establish policies and 
  2.30  procedures for providing parents or guardians reasonable notice 
  2.31  with the following information: 
  2.32     (1) if the district is offering a comprehensive family life 
  2.33  and sexuality education program to their child during the course 
  2.34  of the year; 
  2.35     (2) how the parents or guardians may inspect the written 
  2.36  and audio/visual educational materials used in the program and 
  3.1   the process for inspection; 
  3.2      (3) if the program is presented by school district 
  3.3   personnel or outside consultants, and if outside consultants are 
  3.4   used, who that may be; and 
  3.5      (4) a parent's or guardian's right to choose not to have 
  3.6   their child participate in the program and the procedure for 
  3.7   exercising that right. 
  3.8      (d) A school district must establish policies and 
  3.9   procedures for reasonably restricting the availability of 
  3.10  written and audio/visual educational materials from public view 
  3.11  of students who have been excused from all or part of a 
  3.12  comprehensive family life and sexuality education program at the 
  3.13  request of a parent or guardian. 
  3.14     Subd. 4.  [ASSISTANCE TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS.] (a) The 
  3.15  Department of Education may offer the following to school 
  3.16  districts to help them implement effective comprehensive family 
  3.17  life and sexuality education programs.  In providing these 
  3.18  services, the department may contract with a school district, or 
  3.19  a school district in partnership with a local health agency or a 
  3.20  nonprofit organization, to establish up to eight regional 
  3.21  training sites, taking into account geographical balance, to 
  3.22  provide: 
  3.23     (1) training for teachers, parents, and community members 
  3.24  in the development of comprehensive family life and sexuality 
  3.25  education curriculum or services and in planning for monitoring 
  3.26  and evaluation activities; 
  3.27     (2) resource staff persons to provide expert training, 
  3.28  curriculum development and implementation, and evaluation 
  3.29  services; 
  3.30     (3) technical assistance to promote and coordinate 
  3.31  community, parent, and youth forums in communities identified as 
  3.32  having high needs for comprehensive family life and sexuality 
  3.33  education; 
  3.34     (4) technical assistance for issue management and policy 
  3.35  development training for school boards, superintendents, 
  3.36  principals, and administrators across the state; and 
  4.1      (5) funding for grants to school-based comprehensive family 
  4.2   life and sexuality education programs to promote innovation and 
  4.3   to recognize outstanding performance and promote replication of 
  4.4   demonstrably effective strategies. 
  4.5      (b) Technical assistance provided by the department to 
  4.6   school districts or regional training sites may: 
  4.7      (1) promote instruction and use of materials that are age 
  4.8   appropriate; 
  4.9      (2) provide information that is medically accurate and 
  4.10  objective; 
  4.11     (3) provide instruction and promote use of materials that 
  4.12  are respectful of marriage and commitments in relationships; 
  4.13     (4) provide instruction and promote use of materials that 
  4.14  are appropriate for use with pupils and family experiences based 
  4.15  on race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic and cultural 
  4.16  background, and appropriately accommodate alternative learning 
  4.17  based on language or disability; 
  4.18     (5) provide instruction and promote use of materials that 
  4.19  encourage a pupil to communicate with their parents or guardian 
  4.20  about human sexuality; 
  4.21     (6) provide instruction and promote use of age-appropriate 
  4.22  materials that teach abstinence from sexual intercourse as the 
  4.23  only certain way to prevent unintended pregnancy or sexually 
  4.24  transmitted infections, including HIV, and provide information 
  4.25  about the role and value of abstinence while also providing 
  4.26  medically accurate information on other methods of preventing 
  4.27  and reducing risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually 
  4.28  transmitted infections; 
  4.29     (7) provide instruction and promote use of age-appropriate 
  4.30  materials that are medically accurate in explaining transmission 
  4.31  modes, risks, symptoms, and treatments for sexually transmitted 
  4.32  infections, including HIV; 
  4.33     (8) provide instruction and promote use of age-appropriate 
  4.34  materials that address varied societal views on sexuality, 
  4.35  sexual behaviors, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted 
  4.36  infections, including HIV, in an age-appropriate manner; 
  5.1      (9) provide instruction and promote use of age-appropriate 
  5.2   materials that provide information about the effectiveness and 
  5.3   safety of all FDA-approved methods for preventing and reducing 
  5.4   risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted 
  5.5   infections, including HIV; 
  5.6      (10) provide instruction and promote use of age-appropriate 
  5.7   materials that provide instruction in skills for making and 
  5.8   implementing responsible decisions about sexuality; 
  5.9      (11) provide instruction and promote use of age-appropriate 
  5.10  materials that provide instruction in skills for making and 
  5.11  implementing responsible decisions about finding and using 
  5.12  health services; and 
  5.13     (12) provide instruction and promote use of age-appropriate 
  5.14  materials that do not teach or promote religious doctrine nor 
  5.15  reflect or promote bias against any person on the basis of any 
  5.16  category protected by the state's Human Rights Act. 
  5.17     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  5.18     Subdivision 1.  [DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.] The sums 
  5.19  indicated in this section are appropriated from the general fund 
  5.20  to the Department of Education for the fiscal years designated. 
  5.21     Subd. 2.  [COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY LIFE AND SEXUALITY 
  5.22  EDUCATION PROGRAMS.] For comprehensive family life and sexuality 
  5.23  education program grants: 
  5.24       $.........     .....     2004
  5.25       $.........     .....     2005
  5.26     $....... each year is available for grants to no more than 
  5.27  eight school districts, or school districts in partnership with 
  5.28  either local public health agencies or nonprofit organizations, 
  5.29  taking into account geographical balance, to serve as regional 
  5.30  training sites to assist the department in providing training 
  5.31  for teachers, parents, and community members in the development 
  5.32  of comprehensive family life and sexuality education curriculum 
  5.33  or services and in planning for monitoring and evaluation 
  5.34  activities; resource staff persons to provide expert training, 
  5.35  curriculum development and implementation, and evaluation 
  5.36  services; and issues management and policy development training 
  6.1   for school boards, superintendents, principals, and 
  6.2   administrators across the state; and model programs to promote 
  6.3   innovation and to recognize outstanding performance and promote 
  6.4   replication of demonstrably effective strategies. 
  6.5      $....... each year is available for contracts with up to 
  6.6   two school districts in partnership with either local public 
  6.7   health agencies or nonprofit organizations to serve as statewide 
  6.8   resources for training teachers, parents, and community members 
  6.9   in the development of comprehensive family life and sexuality 
  6.10  education curriculum or services and in planning, monitoring, 
  6.11  and evaluation activities; resource staff persons to provide 
  6.12  expert training, curriculum development and implementation, and 
  6.13  evaluation services; educational activities to promote and 
  6.14  coordinate community, parent, and youth involvement in 
  6.15  communities identified as having high need for comprehensive 
  6.16  family life and sexuality education; issues management and 
  6.17  policy development training for school boards, superintendents, 
  6.18  principals, and administrators across the state; and assistance 
  6.19  with evaluation. 
  6.20     Any balance in the first year does not cancel but is 
  6.21  available in the second year. 
  6.22     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  6.23  following final enactment. 
  6.24     Sec. 3.  [REPEALER.] 
  6.25     (a) Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 121A.23, subdivision 
  6.26  2, is repealed.  
  6.27     (b) Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 121A.23, 
  6.28  subdivision 1, is repealed.