The purpose of this report is to approve the adoption of the California Healthy Youth Act (AB 329). As of January 1, 2016, the California Healthy Youth Act requires school districts to provide students with integrated, comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased comprehensive sexual health and HIV prevention education at least once in middle school and once in high school. The law is intended to ensure that students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to protect their sexual and reproductive health and develop healthy attitudes concerning adolescent growth and development, body image, gender, sexual orientation, relationships, marriage and family. It aims to ensure that students understand sexuality as a normal part of human development and requires that curricula help students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to have healthy, positive, and safe relationships and behaviors. The full law can be found at the following url: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB329
Frequently asked questions can be found at the following url: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/se/faq.asp
Over the past year, our middle school and high school teachers and administrators have engaged in a thorough review of our current curriculum scope and sequence, using the Grades 7-12 California Healthy Youth Act Compliance Evaluation Checklist. One area of non-compliance is providing education relative to sex trafficking. EC § 51934(a)(10). CHS is currently partnering with kNOw More! to provide this content to our students. Approving the adoption/recognition of AB 329 in conjunction with current BP 6142.1, will ensure that all our comprehensive sexual health lessons align with the CA Healthy Youth Act Ed Code requirements. It is also important to note that the Positive Prevention PLUS curriculum is fully aligned with the California Healthy Youth Act and will continue to serve as the course curriculum at the middle school and high school.
Additionally, we have revised our parent notification form and procedures to ensure the following:
- Prior to providing instruction in comprehensive sexual health education or HIV prevention education, Education Code 51938 requires schools to notify parents of the instruction and to make materials available for parents to review.
(This has been in place since at least 2002).
- Schools must notify parents of this instruction and provide a preview date at least 14 days prior to the commencement of sexual health instruction.
- Parent preview meetings are conducted by site staff who will be teaching the sexual health curriculum. The meetings may be held in conjunction with Open House or other scheduled school events. (ex: CMS hosts an evening parent presentation approximately three weeks prior to the start of instruction).
- Parents/guardians may request in writing to site staff that their child be exempt from all or part of the sexual health or HIV prevention education (see attached Parent Opt-Out Letter).