Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 286 Second Substitute (2018GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Fawson, J.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/19/2018

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• defines terms;
• modifies instruction in health to include instruction in refusal skills and the harmful effects of pornography;
• clarifies ambiguous language, updates outdated terminology, and repeals repetitive language;
• amends definitions for required parental consent; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

REPRODUCTIVE EDUCATION AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Justin L. Fawson
Senate Sponsor: 
Todd Weiler
<cospons>
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends and enacts provisions related to instruction in health and sex
education.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ defines terms;
▸ modifies instruction in health to include instruction in refusal skills and the harmful
effects of pornography;
▸ clarifies ambiguous language, updates outdated terminology, and repeals repetitive
language;
▸ amends definitions for required parental consent; and
▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53G-10-402
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 3
53G-10-403
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 3
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
53G-10-402
 is amended to read:
53G-10-402.
Instruction in health -- Parental consent requirements -- Conduct
and speech of school employees and volunteers -- Political and religious doctrine
prohibited.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Board" means the State Board of Education.
(b) "Local school board" means:
(i) a local board of education elected in accordance with Section 
53G-4-201
; or
(ii) a charter school governing board, as defined in Section 
53G-5-102
.
(c) "Parent" means a parent or legal guardian.
(d) "Refusal skills" means instruction:
(i) in a student's ability to clearly and expressly refuse sexual advances by a minor or
adult;
(ii) in a student's obligation to stop the student's sexual advances if refused by another
individual;
(iii) informing a student of the student's right to report and seek counseling for
unwanted sexual advances;
(iv) in sexual harassment; and
(v) informing a student that a student may not consent to criminally prohibited
activities or activities for which the student is legally prohibited from giving consent, including
the electronic transmission of sexually explicit images by an individual of the individual or
another.
[
(1)
] 
(2)
 (a) The [
State Board of Education
] 
board
 shall establish curriculum
requirements under Section 
53E-3-501
 that include instruction in:
(i) community and personal health;
(ii) physiology;
(iii) personal hygiene; [
and
]
(iv) prevention of communicable disease[
.
]
;
(v) refusal skills; and
(vi) the harmful effects of pornography.
(b) (i) That instruction shall stress:
(A) the importance of abstinence from all sexual activity before marriage and fidelity
after marriage as methods for preventing certain communicable diseases; and
(B) personal skills that encourage individual choice of abstinence and fidelity.
(ii) (A) At no time may instruction be provided, including responses to spontaneous
questions raised by students, regarding any means or methods that facilitate or encourage the
violation of any state or federal criminal law by a minor or an adult.
(B) Subsection [
(1)
] 
(2)
(b)(ii)(A) does not preclude an instructor from responding to a
spontaneous question as long as the response is consistent with the provisions of this section.
(c) (i) The board shall recommend instructional materials for use in the curricula
required under Subsection [
(1)
] 
(2)
(a) after considering evaluations of instructional materials
by the State Instructional Materials Commission.
(ii) A local school board may choose to adopt:
(A) the instructional materials recommended under Subsection [
(1)
] 
(2)
(c)(i); or
(B) other instructional materials as provided in [
state
] board rule.
(iii) The [
state
] board rule made under Subsection [
(1)
] 
(2)
(c)(ii)(B) shall include, at a
minimum:
(A) that the materials adopted by a local school board under Subsection [
(1)
]
(2)
(c)(ii)(B) shall be based upon recommendations of the school district's 
or charter school's
Curriculum Materials Review Committee that comply with state law and [
state
] board rules
emphasizing abstinence before marriage and fidelity after marriage, and prohibiting instruction
in:
(I) the intricacies of intercourse, sexual stimulation, or erotic behavior;
(II) the advocacy of premarital or extramarital sexual activity; or
(III) the advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraceptive methods or devices;
[
(IV) the advocacy of sexual activity outside of marriage;
]
(B) that the adoption of instructional materials shall take place in an open and regular
meeting of the local school board for which prior notice is given to parents [
and guardians
] of
students attending 
the respective
 schools [
in the district
] and an opportunity for [
them
] 
parents
to express their views and opinions on the materials at the meeting;
(C) provision for an appeal and review process of the local school board's decision; and
(D) provision for a report by the local school board to the [
State Board of Education
]
board
 of the action taken and the materials adopted by the local school board under Subsections
[
(1)
] 
(2)
(c)(ii)(B) and [
(1)
] 
(2)
(c)(iii).
[
(2)
] 
(3)
 (a) [
Instruction
] 
A student shall receive instruction
 in the courses described in
Subsection [
(1) shall be consistent and systematic in grades eight through
] 
(2) on at least two
occasions during the period that begins with the beginning of grade 8 and the end of grade
 12.
(b) At the request of the board, the Department of Health shall cooperate with the
board in developing programs to provide instruction in those areas.
[
(3)
] 
(4)
 (a) The board shall adopt rules that:
(i) provide that the parental consent requirements of Sections 
76-7-322
 and 
76-7-323
are complied with; and
(ii) require a student's parent [
or legal guardian
] to be notified in advance and have an
opportunity to review the information for which parental consent is required under Sections
76-7-322
 and 
76-7-323
.
(b) The board shall also provide procedures for disciplinary action for violation of
Section 
76-7-322
 or 
76-7-323
.
[
(4)
] 
(5)
 (a) In keeping with the requirements of Section 
53G-10-204
, and because
school employees and volunteers serve as examples to their students, school employees or
volunteers acting in their official capacities may not support or encourage criminal conduct by
students, teachers, or volunteers.
(b) To ensure the effective performance of school personnel, the limitations described
in Subsection [
(4)
] 
(5)
(a) also apply to 
a
 school [
employees or volunteers acting outside of
their
] 
employee or volunteer acting outside of the school employee's or volunteer's
 official
capacities if:
(i) [
they
] 
the employee or volunteer
 knew or should have known that [
their
] 
the
employee's or volunteer's
 action could result in a material and substantial interference or
disruption in the normal activities of the school; and
(ii) that action does result in a material and substantial interference or disruption in the
normal activities of the school.
(c) [
Neither the State Board of Education nor local school districts may
] 
The board or a
local school board may not
 allow training of school employees or volunteers that supports or
encourages criminal conduct.
(d) The [
State Board of Education
] 
board
 shall adopt rules implementing this section.
(e) Nothing in this section limits the ability or authority of the [
State Board of
Education and
] 
board or a
 local school [
boards
] 
board
 to enact and enforce rules or take actions
that are otherwise lawful, regarding educators', employees', or volunteers' qualifications or
behavior evidencing unfitness for duty.
[
(5)
] 
(6)
 Except as provided in Section 
53G-10-202
, political, atheistic, sectarian,
religious, or denominational doctrine may not be taught in the public schools.
[
(6)
] 
(7)
 (a) [
Local school boards and their
] 
A local school board and a local school
board's
 employees shall cooperate and share responsibility in carrying out the purposes of this
chapter.
(b) [
Each school district
] 
A local school board
 shall provide appropriate [
inservice
training for its
] 
professional development for the local school board's
 teachers, counselors, and
school administrators to enable them to understand, protect, and properly instruct students in
the values and character traits referred to in this section and Sections
53E-9-202
, 
53E-9-203
,
53G-10-202
, 
53G-10-203
, 
53G-10-204
, and 
53G-10-205
, and distribute appropriate written
materials on the values, character traits, and conduct to each individual receiving the [
inservice
training
] 
professional development
.
(c) [
The written materials shall also be made
] 
A local school board shall make the
written materials described in Subsection (7)(b)
 available to classified employees, students, and
parents [
and guardians
] of students.
(d) In order to assist [
school districts
] 
a local school board
 in providing the [
inservice
training
] 
professional development
 required under Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(b), the [
State Board of
Education
] 
board
 shall
,
 as appropriate, contract with a qualified individual or entity possessing
expertise in the areas referred to in Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(b) to develop and disseminate model
teacher [
inservice programs which districts
] 
professional development programs that a local
school board
 may use to train the individuals referred to in Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(b) to effectively
teach the values and qualities of character referenced in [
that subsection
] 
Subsection (7)
.
(e) In accordance with the provisions of Subsection [
(4)
] 
(5)
(c), [
inservice training
]
professional development
 may not support or encourage criminal conduct.
(8) A local school board shall review every two years:
(a) local school board policies on instruction described in this section;
(b) for a local board of education of a school district, data for each county that the
school district is located in, or, for a charter school governing board, data for the county in
which the charter school is located, on the following:
(i) teen pregnancy;
(ii) child sexual abuse; and
(iii) sexually transmitted diseases and sexually transmitted infections; and
(c) the number of pornography complaints or other instances reported within the
jurisdiction of the local school board.
[
(7)
] 
(9)
 If any one or more provision, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of
this section, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is found to be
unconstitutional, the balance of this section shall be given effect without the invalid provision,
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word.
Section 2. Section 
53G-10-403
 is amended to read:
53G-10-403.
Required parental consent for sex education instruction.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Parent" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
53G-10-205
.
[
(a)
] 
(b)
 (i) "[
Human sexuality
] 
Sex education
 instruction" means any course material,
unit, class, lesson, activity, or presentation that, as the focus of the discussion, provides
instruction or information to a student about:
(A) sexual abstinence;
(B) human sexuality;
(C) human reproduction;
(D) reproductive anatomy;
(E) physiology;
(F) pregnancy;
(G) marriage;
(H) childbirth;
(I) parenthood;
(J) contraception;
(K) HIV/AIDS; [
or
]
(L) sexually transmitted diseases[
.
]
; or
(M) refusal skills, as defined in Section 
53G-10-402
.
(ii) "[
Human sexuality
] 
Sex education
 instruction" does not include child sexual abuse
prevention instruction described in Section 
53G-9-207
.
[
(b) "Parent" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
53G-10-205
.
]
(c) "School" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
53G-10-205
.
(2) A school shall obtain prior written consent from a student's parent before the school
may provide [
human sexuality
] 
sex education
 instruction to the student.
(3) If a student's parent chooses not to have the student participate in [
human sexuality
]
sex education
 instruction, a school shall:
(a) waive the requirement for the student to participate in the [
human sexuality
] 
sex
education
 instruction; or
(b) provide the student with a reasonable alternative to the [
human sexuality
] 
sex
education
 instruction requirement.
(4) In cooperation with the student's teacher or school, a parent shall take responsibility
for the parent's student's [
human sexuality
] 
sex education
 instruction if a school:
(a) waives the student's [
human sexuality
] 
sex education
 instruction requirement in
Subsection (3)(a); or
(b) provides the student with a reasonable alternative to the [
human sexuality
] 
sex
education
 instruction requirement described in Subsection (3)(b).
(5) A student's academic or citizenship performance may not be penalized if the
student's parent chooses not to have the student participate in [
human sexuality
] 
sex education
instruction as described in Subsection (3).