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| 2 | 2 | | FILED ON: 3/4/2024 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2694 |
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| 4 | 4 | | Senate, February 29, 2024 -- Text of the Senate Bill relative to healthy youth (Senate, No. 2692) |
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| 5 | 5 | | (being the text of Senate, No. 2686, printed as amended) |
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| 6 | 6 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 7 | 7 | | _______________ |
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| 8 | 8 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 9 | 9 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 10 | 10 | | _______________ |
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| 11 | 11 | | An Act relative to healthy youth. |
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| 12 | 12 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 13 | 13 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 15 | 15 | | 2section 1E the following section:- |
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| 16 | 16 | | 3 Section 1E ½. Each city, town, regional school district, vocational school district and |
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| 17 | 17 | | 4charter school shall file a biennial report regarding sexual health education, which shall include, |
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| 18 | 18 | | 5but not be limited to, for each city, town, regional school district, vocational school district and |
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| 19 | 19 | | 6charter school, by grade level: (i) the name and a description of any sexual health education |
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| 20 | 20 | | 7curriculum offered; (ii) the approximate number of hours spent on sexual health education; (iii) |
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| 21 | 21 | | 8the number of students enrolled in sexual health education; and (iv) the number of students who |
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| 22 | 22 | | 9withdrew from sexual health education under section 32A of chapter 71. The report shall be filed |
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| 23 | 23 | | 10with the board of elementary and secondary education each even-numbered year by a date and in |
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| 24 | 24 | | 11a format to be determined by the board. 2 of 5 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 12 The commissioner shall make the data collected under this section available to the public |
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| 26 | 26 | | 13on the department’s website and transmit the data to the department of public health within 30 |
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| 27 | 27 | | 14days of the date established by the board for the filing of biennial reports under this section. |
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| 28 | 28 | | 15 SECTION 2. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1632A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sections:- |
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| 30 | 30 | | 17 Section 32A. A city, town, regional school district, vocational school district or charter |
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| 31 | 31 | | 18school implementing or maintaining a curriculum that primarily involves sexual education shall |
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| 32 | 32 | | 19adopt a written policy ensuring that parents and guardians are notified of: (i) the comprehensive |
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| 33 | 33 | | 20sexual health education offered by the school; (ii) the right of a parent or guardian to withdraw a |
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| 34 | 34 | | 21student from all or part of the instruction; and (iii) the process for a parent or guardian to notify |
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| 35 | 35 | | 22the school of a student’s withdrawal. The policy shall include a process for a parent or guardian, |
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| 36 | 36 | | 23at the parent or guardian’s request, to inspect the instruction materials prior to the start of the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 24course. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 25 To the extent possible, such notifications shall be provided in English and in other |
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| 39 | 39 | | 26commonly spoken languages spoken by parents and guardians of students in the district or |
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| 40 | 40 | | 27charter school. Annually, not later than the first day of a school year, the policy shall be |
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| 41 | 41 | | 28distributed to the parents and guardians of students in a grade that includes a comprehensive |
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| 42 | 42 | | 29sexual health education curriculum for said school year. The policy shall be distributed in the |
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| 43 | 43 | | 30same manner as any student handbook that is distributed to students; provided, however, that if |
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| 44 | 44 | | 31student handbooks are not distributed in a certain grade, the policy shall be distributed in the |
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| 45 | 45 | | 32same manner as other notices provided to parents and guardians of students in that grade at the |
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| 46 | 46 | | 33start of the school year. 3 of 5 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 34 Each district and charter school shall send a copy of its policy, including, if applicable, |
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| 48 | 48 | | 35the name of the comprehensive sexual health education curriculum to the department of |
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| 49 | 49 | | 36elementary and secondary education upon adoption of the policy and upon any amendment of the |
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| 50 | 50 | | 37policy. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 38 If a parent or guardian withdraws a student from all or part of the comprehensive sexual |
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| 52 | 52 | | 39health education curriculum, the student shall not be subject to disciplinary action, academic |
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| 53 | 53 | | 40penalty or any other sanction. An alternative educational activity shall be made available to a |
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| 54 | 54 | | 41student who has been withdrawn from the sexual health education instruction. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 42 Section 32B. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the |
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| 56 | 56 | | 43following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: |
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| 57 | 57 | | 44 “Age-appropriate”, topics, messages and teaching methods that are suitable to particular |
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| 58 | 58 | | 45ages or age groups of children and adolescents and based on developing cognitive, emotional, |
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| 59 | 59 | | 46social and behavioral capacity typical for that age or age group. |
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| 60 | 60 | | 47 “Department”, the department of elementary and secondary education. |
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| 61 | 61 | | 48 “Medically accurate”, supported by peer-reviewed research conducted in compliance |
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| 62 | 62 | | 49with accepted scientific methods and recognized as accurate and objective by leading medical, |
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| 63 | 63 | | 50psychological, psychiatric and public health organizations and agencies and, if relevant, |
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| 64 | 64 | | 51published in peer-reviewed journals. |
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| 65 | 65 | | 52 (b) For the purposes of this section, a curriculum’s discussions of the terms “consent”, |
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| 66 | 66 | | 53“gender expression”, “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” shall be construed consistently 4 of 5 |
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| 67 | 67 | | 54with the terms as used or defined in the annual report of the commission on lesbian, gay, |
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| 68 | 68 | | 55bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth established under section 67 of chapter 3. |
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| 69 | 69 | | 56 (c) A city, town, regional school district, vocational school district or charter school that |
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| 70 | 70 | | 57offers sexual health curriculum shall provide a medically accurate, age-appropriate, |
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| 71 | 71 | | 58comprehensive sexual health education consistent with the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health |
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| 72 | 72 | | 59and Physical Education Curriculum Framework. Sexual health education shall be appropriate for |
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| 73 | 73 | | 60students regardless of gender, race, disability status, sexual orientation or gender identity and |
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| 74 | 74 | | 61shall include, but not be limited to, age-appropriate teaching of: (i) physical, social and |
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| 75 | 75 | | 62emotional changes of human development; (ii) human anatomy, reproduction and sexual |
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| 76 | 76 | | 63development; (iii) the benefits of abstinence and delaying sexual activity, the prevention of |
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| 77 | 77 | | 64sexually transmitted infections, including, but not limited to, human immunodeficiency virus and |
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| 78 | 78 | | 65acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and the prevention of unintended pregnancy, including, |
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| 79 | 79 | | 66but not limited to, the effective use of contraceptives and barrier methods; (iv) ways to |
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| 80 | 80 | | 67effectively discuss safe sexual activity; (v) relationship and communication skills to form |
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| 81 | 81 | | 68healthy, respectful relationships free of violence, coercion and intimidation and to make healthy |
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| 82 | 82 | | 69decisions about relationships and sexuality, including, but not limited to, affirmative, conscious |
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| 83 | 83 | | 70and voluntary consent to engage in physical or sexual activity; (vi) skills to recognize and |
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| 84 | 84 | | 71prevent dating violence; and (vii) age-appropriate information about: (A) gender identity and |
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| 85 | 85 | | 72sexual orientation for all students, including affirmative education that people have different |
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| 86 | 86 | | 73sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions; and (B) resources and support |
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| 87 | 87 | | 74services for all students, including, but not limited to, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, |
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| 88 | 88 | | 75intersex, agender, queer and questioning students. Sexual health education shall incorporate |
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| 89 | 89 | | 76opportunities for students to analyze societal and media messages. 5 of 5 |
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| 90 | 90 | | 77 (d) Any city, town, regional school district, vocational school district or charter school |
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| 91 | 91 | | 78that utilizes curricula consistent with the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health and Physical |
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| 92 | 92 | | 79Education Curriculum Framework shall be in compliance with this section. |
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| 93 | 93 | | 80 (e) The department shall issue rules to implement, administer and ensure compliance with |
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| 94 | 94 | | 81this section. |
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| 95 | 95 | | 82 (f) The department may determine minimum education and training qualifications for |
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| 96 | 96 | | 83sexual health education instructors. |
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| 97 | 97 | | 84 (g) Not less than every 10 years, the board of elementary and secondary education shall |
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| 98 | 98 | | 85review and update the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Curriculum |
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| 99 | 99 | | 86Framework, including provisions relative to sexual health education consistent with this section, |
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| 100 | 100 | | 87in accordance with section 1E of chapter 69. |
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| 101 | 101 | | 88 SECTION 3. This act shall take effect for the academic year immediately following its |
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| 102 | 102 | | 89passage. |
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