Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 177 Fourth Substitute (2021GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Moss, C.

Final action

House/ filed 3/5/2021

Outcome

Failed / filed without passage

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• requires the State Board of Education (state board) to establish curriculum requirements that include instruction in:
• consent, including what does not constitute consent;
• coercion;
• sexual violence behavior deterrence; and
• sexual assault mitigation strategies;
• amends provisions related to when a student receives health education instruction;
• requires a local education agency (LEA) to review data on sexual assault for each county in which the LEA is located; and
• defines terms.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

HEALTH EDUCATION AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Carol Spackman Moss
Senate Sponsor: 
____________
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions related to health education.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ requires the State Board of Education (state board) to establish curriculum
requirements that include instruction in:
• consent, including what does not constitute consent;
• coercion;
• sexual violence behavior deterrence; and
• sexual assault mitigation strategies;
▸ amends provisions related to when a student receives health education instruction;
▸ requires a local education agency (LEA) to review data on sexual assault for each
county in which the LEA is located; and
▸ defines terms.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53G-10-402
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapters 354 and 408
53G-10-403
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 293
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) "LEA governing board" means a local school board or charter school governing
board.
(b) "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.
(c) "Consent" means freely-given, informed, and knowledgeable agreement:
(i) to do something; or
(ii) for something to happen.
(d) "Coercion" means persuasion to do something using force, threats, or intimidation.
(e) "Sexual violence behavior deterrence education" means instruction:
(i) regarding the legal consequences of criminally prohibited sexual behavior;
(ii) about the psychological effects of sexual assault; and
(iii) that encourages empathy for others.
(f) "Sexual assault mitigation strategies" means tools a student can use to:
(i) mitigate the risk of sexual assault; and
(ii) get help to address the physical and psychological effects of sexual assault if the
student is sexually assaulted.
(2) (a) The state board shall establish curriculum requirements under Section
53E-3-501
 that include instruction in:
(i) community and personal health;
(ii) physiology;
(iii) personal hygiene;
(iv) prevention of communicable disease;
(v) refusal skills; [
and
]
(vi) the harmful effects of pornography[
.
]
;
(vii) consent, including what does not constitute consent;
(viii) coercion;
(ix) sexual violence behavior deterrence education; and
(x) sexual assault mitigation strategies.
(b) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the
state board shall make rules that, and instruction shall:
(i) stress the importance of abstinence from all sexual activity before marriage and
fidelity after marriage as methods for preventing certain communicable diseases;
(ii) stress personal skills that encourage individual choice of abstinence and fidelity;
(iii) prohibit instruction in:
(A) the intricacies of intercourse, sexual stimulation, or erotic behavior;
(B) the advocacy of premarital or extramarital sexual activity; or
(C) the advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraceptive methods or devices; and
(iv) except as provided in Subsection (2)(d), allow instruction to include information
about contraceptive methods or devices that stresses effectiveness, limitations, risks, and
information on state law applicable to minors obtaining contraceptive methods or devices.
(c) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the
state board shall make rules for an LEA governing board that adopts instructional materials
under Subsection (2)(g)(ii) that:
(i) require the LEA governing board to report on the materials selected and the LEA
governing board's compliance with Subsection (2)(h); and
(ii) provide for an appeal and review process of the LEA governing board's adoption of
instructional materials.
(d) The state board may not require an LEA to teach or adopt instructional materials
that include information on contraceptive methods or devices.
(e) (i) 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.
(ii) Subsection (2)(e)(i) does not preclude an instructor from responding to a
spontaneous question as long as the response is consistent with the provisions of this section.
(f) The state board shall recommend instructional materials for use in the curricula
required under Subsection (2)(a) after considering evaluations of instructional materials by the
State Instructional Materials Commission.
(g) An LEA governing board may choose to adopt:
(i) the instructional materials recommended under Subsection (2)(f); or
(ii) other instructional materials in accordance with Subsection (2)(h).
(h) An LEA governing board that adopts instructional materials under Subsection
(2)(g)(ii) shall:
(i) ensure that the materials comply with state law and board rules;
(ii) base the adoption of the materials on the recommendations of the LEA governing
board's Curriculum Materials Review Committee; and
(iii) adopt the instructional materials in an open and regular meeting of the LEA
governing board for which prior notice is given to parents of students attending the respective
schools and an opportunity for parents to express their views and opinions on the materials at
the meeting.
(3) (a) A student shall receive 
one hour of age-appropriate
 instruction in the courses
described in Subsection (2) [
on at least two occasions
] 
every academic year
 during the period
that begins with the beginning of grade [
] 
 and 
ends with
 the end of grade 12.
(b) At the request of the state board, the Department of Health shall cooperate with the
state board in developing programs to provide instruction in those areas.
(4) (a) The state 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 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 state board shall also provide procedures for disciplinary action for violation of
Section 
76-7-322
 or 
76-7-323
.
(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 (5)(a) also apply to a school employee or volunteer acting outside of the school
employee's or volunteer's official capacities if:
(i) the employee or volunteer knew or should have known that 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) The state board or an LEA governing board may not allow training of school
employees or volunteers that supports or encourages criminal conduct.
(d) The state board shall adopt, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, rules implementing this section.
(e) Nothing in this section limits the ability or authority of the state board or an LEA
governing 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.
(6) Except as provided in Section 
53G-10-202
, political, atheistic, sectarian, religious,
or denominational doctrine may not be taught in the public schools.
(7) (a) An LEA governing board and an LEA governing board's employees shall
cooperate and share responsibility in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
(b) An LEA governing board shall provide appropriate professional development for
the LEA governing 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 professional development.
(c) An LEA governing board shall make the written materials described in Subsection
(7)(b) available to classified employees, students, and parents of students.
(d) In order to assist an LEA governing board in providing the professional
development required under Subsection (7)(b), the state board shall, as appropriate, contract
with a qualified individual or entity possessing expertise in the areas referred to in Subsection
(7)(b) to develop and disseminate model teacher professional development programs that an
LEA governing board may use to train the individuals referred to in Subsection (7)(b) to
effectively teach the values and qualities of character referenced in Subsection (7).
(e) In accordance with the provisions of Subsection (5)(c), professional development
may not support or encourage criminal conduct.
(8) An LEA governing board shall review every two years:
(a) LEA governing board policies on instruction described in this section;
(b) for a local school board, 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
(iv) sexual assault; and
(c) the number of pornography complaints or other instances reported within the
jurisdiction of the LEA governing board.
(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) (i) "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;
(L) sexually transmitted diseases; or
(M) refusal skills, 
consent, coercion, sexual violence behavior deterrence education, or
assault mitigation strategies
 as 
those terms are
 defined in Section 
53G-10-402
.
(ii) "Sex education instruction" does not include child sexual abuse prevention
instruction described in Section 
53G-9-207
.
(b) "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 sex education instruction to the student.
(3) If a student's parent chooses not to have the student participate in sex education
instruction, a school shall:
(a) waive the requirement for the student to participate in the sex education instruction;
or
(b) provide the student with a reasonable alternative to the 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 sex education instruction if a school:
(a) waives the student's sex education instruction requirement in Subsection (3)(a); or
(b) provides the student with a reasonable alternative to the 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 sex education instruction as
described in Subsection (3).