| 1 | 1 | | 1 of 1 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3235 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 547 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | Marjorie C. Decker |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to providing health education in schools. |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Marjorie C. Decker25th Middlesex1/16/2025 1 of 3 |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3235 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 547 |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Decker of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 547) of |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | Marjorie C. Decker relative to health education in schools. Education. |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | _______________ |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | (2025-2026) |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | An Act relative to providing health education in schools. |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | of the same, as follows: |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 1D of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “languages”, in line 7, the |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | 3following words:- , health education |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | 4 SECTION 2. Paragraph 3 of said section 1D of said chapter 69, as so appearing, is hereby |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | 5further amended by striking out the fourth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | 6sentence:- |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | 7 The standards for health education shall be age-appropriate, medically accurate and shall, |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | 8at minimum, provide for instruction in the following areas: growth and physical development, |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | 9physical activity and fitness, nutrition, reproduction and sexuality, mental health, family life, |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | 10interpersonal relationships, disease prevention and control, safety and injury prevention, tobacco, |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | 11alcohol, and other substance use and abuse prevention, consumer health and resource |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | 12management, ecological health, and community and public health. 2 of 3 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | 13 SECTION 3. Consistent with the provisions of section 1E of said chapter 69, the |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | 14Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework shall be construed as a guide for |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | 15local school districts in the development and selection of curriculum, textbooks and instructional |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | 16materials. |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | 17 SECTION 4. Section 1I of said chapter 69, as so appearing, is hereby amended by |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | 18striking out the words “nutrition and wellness”, in line 206, and inserting in place thereof the |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | 19following words:- health education |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | 20 SECTION 5. Consistent with the provisions of section 32A of chapter 71, every city, |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | 21town, regional school district or vocational school district implementing or maintaining |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | 22curriculum which primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality issues shall |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | 23adopt a policy ensuring parental/guardian notification. Such policy shall afford parents or |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | 24guardians the flexibility to exempt their children from any portion of said curriculum through |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | 25written notification to the school principal. No child so exempted shall be penalized by reason of |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | 26such exemption. To the extent practicable, program instruction materials for said curriculum |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | 27shall be made reasonably accessible to parents, guardians, educators, school administrators, and |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | 28others for inspection and review. |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | 29 SECTION 6. Nothing in this act shall be construed to require an MCAS exam on health |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | 30education. |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | 31 SECTION 7. The foundation budget must be re-evaluated in the categories of (1) |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | 32classroom and specialist teachers, (2) instructional equipment, and (3) professional development |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | 33to ensure sufficient funding to provide the health education envisioned in the Frameworks and |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | 34Section 2 above. 3 of 3 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | 35 SECTION 8. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2027. |
|---|