1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; providing for comprehensive
1.3 	family life and sex education programs; proposing
1.4 	coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter
1.5 	121A; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2004, section
1.6 	121A.23.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. [121A.231] COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY LIFE AND SEX
1.9 	EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
1.10 	Subdivision 1.Definitions. (a) "Comprehensive family
1.11 	life and sex education" means education in grades 7 through 12
1.12 	that:
1.13 	(1) respects community values and encourages family
1.14 	communication;
1.15 	(2) develops skills in communication, decision making, and
1.16 	conflict resolution;
1.17 	(3) contributes to healthy relations;
1.18 	(4) provides human development and sex education that is
1.19 	age appropriate and medically accurate;
1.20 	
1.21 	
1.22 	
1.23 	
1.24 	(6) promotes responsible sexual behavior; and 
1.25 	(7) promotes individual responsibility.
1.26 	(b) "Age appropriate" refers to topics, messages, and
2.1 	teaching methods suitable to particular ages or age groups of
2.2 	children and adolescents, based on developing cognitive,
2.3 	emotional, and behavioral capacity typical for the age or age
2.4 	group.
2.5 	(c) "Medically accurate" means verified or supported by
2.6 	research conducted in compliance with scientific methods and
2.7 	published in peer-reviewed journals, where appropriate, and
2.8 	recognized as accurate and objective by professional
2.9 	organizations and agencies in the relevant field, such as the
2.10 	federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American
2.11 	Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics,
2.12 	or the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
2.13 	Subd. 2.Curriculum requirements. (a) A school district
2.14 	may offer and may independently establish policies, procedures,
2.15 	curriculum, and services for providing comprehensive family life
2.16 	and sex education that is age appropriate and medically accurate
2.17 	for kindergarten through grade 6.
2.18 	(b) A school district must offer and may independently
2.19 	establish policies, procedures, curriculum, and services for
2.20 	providing comprehensive family life and sex education that is
2.21 	age appropriate and medically accurate for grades 7 through 12.
2.22 	Subd. 3.Notice and parental options. (a) It is the
2.23 	legislature's intent to encourage pupils to communicate with
2.24 	their parents or guardians about human sexuality and to respect
2.25 	rights of parents or guardians to supervise their children's
2.26 	education on these subjects.
2.27 	(b) Parents or guardians may excuse their children from all
2.28 	or part of a comprehensive family life and sex education 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 sex education program to the parents' or guardians' child
2.34 	during the course of the year;
2.35 	(2) how the parents or guardians may inspect the written
2.36 	and audiovisual 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 they may be; and 
3.5 	(4) parents' or guardians' 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 audiovisual 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 sex 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 services to school districts
3.16 	to help them implement effective comprehensive family life and
3.17 	sex education programs.  In providing these services, the
3.18 	department may contract with a school district, or a school
3.19 	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 sex
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 sex
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 sex education programs to promote innovation and to
4.3 	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 pupils to communicate with their parents or guardians
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 under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, chapter
5.17 	363A.

5.18 	Sec. 2. REPEALER. 
5.19 	Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 121A.23, is repealed.