Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H656 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 947 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 656
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	James J. O'Day and Vanna Howard
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 healthy youth.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:James J. O'Day14th Worcester1/14/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/14/2025Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire1/27/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester1/28/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/4/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex2/4/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/6/2025Michelle L. Badger1st Plymouth2/6/2025Manny Cruz7th Essex2/10/2025Jennifer Balinsky Armini8th Essex2/12/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/13/2025Tara T. Hong18th Middlesex2/13/2025Tram T. Nguyen18th Essex2/24/2025David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester2/24/2025Rob Consalvo14th Suffolk2/24/2025Antonio F. D. Cabral13th Bristol2/25/2025Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/27/2025Christine P. Barber34th Middlesex3/4/2025 2 of 2
16	16	Sean Garballey23rd Middlesex3/7/2025Kevin G. Honan17th Suffolk3/7/2025 1 of 6
17	17	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 947 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
18	18	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 656
19	19	By Representatives O'Day of West Boylston and Howard of Lowell, a petition (accompanied by
20	20	bill, House, No. 656) of James J. O'Day, Lindsay N. Sabadosa and others relative to public
21	21	schools choosing to teach human sexual education or human sexuality issues. Education.
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
25	25	(2025-2026)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to healthy youth.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
31	31	2section 1E the following section:-
32	32	3 Section 1E ½. Each city, town, regional school district, vocational school district and
33	33	4charter school shall file a biennial report regarding sexual health education, which shall include,
34	34	5but not be limited to, for each city, town, regional school district, vocational school district and
35	35	6charter school, by grade level: (i) the name and a description of any sexual health education
36	36	7curriculum offered; (ii) the approximate number of hours spent on sexual health education; (iii)
37	37	8the number of students enrolled in sexual health education; and (iv) the number of students who
38	38	9withdrew from sexual health education under section 32A of chapter 71. The report shall be filed
39	39	10with the board of elementary and secondary education each even-numbered year by a date and in
40	40	11a format to be determined by the board.
41	41	12 2 of 6
42	42	13 The commissioner shall make the data collected under this section available to the public
43	43	14on the department’s website and transmit the data to the department of public health within 30
44	44	15days of the date established by the board for the filing of biennial reports under this section.
45	45	16 SECTION 2. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section
46	46	1732A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sections:-
47	47	18 Section 32A. A city, town, regional school district, vocational school district or charter
48	48	19school implementing or maintaining a curriculum that primarily involves sexual education shall
49	49	20adopt a written policy ensuring that parents and guardians are notified of: (i) the comprehensive
50	50	21sexual health education offered by the school; (ii) the right of a parent or guardian to withdraw a
51	51	22student from all or part of the instruction; and (iii) the process for a parent or guardian to notify
52	52	23the school of a student’s withdrawal. The policy shall include a process for a parent or guardian,
53	53	24at the parent or guardian’s request, to inspect the instruction materials prior to the start of the
54	54	25course.
55	55	26 To the extent possible, such notifications shall be provided in English and in other
56	56	27commonly spoken languages spoken by parents and guardians of students in the district or
57	57	28charter school. Annually, not later than the first day of a school year, the policy shall be
58	58	29distributed to the parents and guardians of students in a grade that includes a comprehensive
59	59	30sexual health education curriculum for said school year. The policy shall be distributed in the
60	60	31same manner as any student handbook that is distributed to students; provided, however, that if
61	61	32student handbooks are not distributed in a certain grade, the policy shall be distributed in the
62	62	33same manner as other notices provided to parents and guardians of students in that grade at the
63	63	34start of the school year. 3 of 6
64	64	35 Each district and charter school shall send a copy of its policy, including, if applicable,
65	65	36the name of the comprehensive sexual health education curriculum to the department of
66	66	37elementary and secondary education upon adoption of the policy and upon any amendment of the
67	67	38policy.
68	68	39 If a parent or guardian withdraws a student from all or part of the comprehensive sexual
69	69	40health education curriculum, the student shall not be subject to disciplinary action, academic
70	70	41penalty or any other sanction. An alternative educational activity shall be made available to a
71	71	42student who has been withdrawn from the sexual health education instruction.
72	72	43 Section 32B. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the
73	73	44following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
74	74	45
75	75	46 “Age-appropriate”, topics, messages and teaching methods that are suitable to particular
76	76	47ages or age groups of children and adolescents and based on developing cognitive, emotional,
77	77	48social and behavioral capacity typical for that age or age group.
78	78	49
79	79	50 “Department”, the department of elementary and secondary education.
80	80	51
81	81	52 “Medically accurate”, supported by peer-reviewed research conducted in compliance
82	82	53with accepted scientific methods and recognized as accurate and objective by leading medical,
83	83	54psychological, psychiatric and public health organizations and agencies and, if relevant,
84	84	55published in peer-reviewed journals. 4 of 6
85	85	56
86	86	57 (b) For the purposes of this section, a curriculum’s discussions of the terms “consent”,
87	87	58“gender expression”, “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” shall be construed consistently
88	88	59with the terms as used or defined in the annual report of the commission on lesbian, gay,
89	89	60bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth established under section 67 of chapter 3.
90	90	61
91	91	62 (c) A city, town, regional school district, vocational school district or charter school that
92	92	63offers sexual health curriculum shall provide a medically accurate, age-appropriate,
93	93	64comprehensive sexual health education consistent with the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health
94	94	65and Physical Education Curriculum Framework. Sexual health education shall be appropriate for
95	95	66students regardless of gender, race, disability status, sexual orientation or gender identity and
96	96	67shall include, but not be limited to, age-appropriate teaching of: (i) physical, social and
97	97	68emotional changes of human development; (ii) human anatomy, reproduction and sexual
98	98	69development; (iii) the benefits of abstinence and delaying sexual activity, the prevention of
99	99	70sexually transmitted infections, including, but not limited to, human immunodeficiency virus and
100	100	71acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and the prevention of unintended pregnancy, including,
101	101	72but not limited to, the effective use of contraceptives and barrier methods; (iv) ways to
102	102	73effectively discuss safe sexual activity; (v) relationship and communication skills to form
103	103	74healthy, respectful relationships free of violence, coercion and intimidation and to make healthy
104	104	75decisions about relationships and sexuality, including, but not limited to, affirmative, conscious
105	105	76and voluntary consent to engage in physical or sexual activity; (vi) skills to recognize and
106	106	77prevent dating violence; and (vii) age-appropriate information about: (A) gender identity and 5 of 6
107	107	78sexual orientation for all students, including affirmative education that people have different
108	108	79sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions; and (B) resources and support
109	109	80services for all students, including, but not limited to, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
110	110	81intersex, agender, queer and questioning students. Sexual health education shall incorporate
111	111	82opportunities for students to analyze societal and media messages.
112	112	83
113	113	84 (d) Any city, town, regional school district, vocational school district or charter school
114	114	85that utilizes curricula consistent with the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health and Physical
115	115	86Education Curriculum Framework shall be in compliance with this section.
116	116	87
117	117	88 (e) The department shall issue rules to implement, administer and ensure compliance with
118	118	89this section.
119	119	90
120	120	91 (f) The department may determine minimum education and training qualifications for
121	121	92sexual health education instructors.
122	122	93
123	123	94 (g) Not less than every 10 years, the board of elementary and secondary education shall
124	124	95review and update the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Curriculum
125	125	96Framework, including provisions relative to sexual health education consistent with this section,
126	126	97in accordance with section 1E of chapter 69. 6 of 6
127	127	98
128	128	99 SECTION 3. This act shall take effect for the academic year immediately following its
129	129	100passage.