Bill Text: FL H0169 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Education in Public Schools/Human Sexuality

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-2)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on PreK-12 Policy (EPC) [H0169 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-H0169-Introduced.html

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HB 169

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to education in public schools concerning
3	human sexuality; providing a short title; providing
4	definitions; requiring public schools that provide certain
5	information or programs to students concerning human
6	sexuality to provide information that meets specified
7	criteria; providing a process to review compliance with
8	such requirement; authorizing parents and guardians to
9	seek review of a school's compliance; providing for school
10	superintendents, district schools boards, and the
11	Commissioner of Education to review compliance and take
12	corrective actions; providing for exemption from certain
13	teaching; providing for severability; providing an
14	effective date.
15
16	WHEREAS, one in four teen girls in the United States has a
17	sexually transmitted disease, according to the United States
18	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
19	WHEREAS, Florida has the third highest AIDS rate and the
20	fifth highest HIV rate in the nation, according to the United
21	States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
22	WHEREAS, in 2007, persons under the age of 25 accounted
23	for 15 percent of new HIV infections in Florida, and
24	WHEREAS, according to the Florida Department of Health, in
25	2007, youth accounted for 65.5 percent of new sexually
26	transmitted disease infections in Florida, and
27	WHEREAS, Florida has the sixth highest teen pregnancy rate
28	in the nation, according to the Guttmacher Institute, and
29	WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that between 1991 and
30	2004 there have been more than 354,000 teen births in Florida,
31	costing taxpayers a total of $8.1 billion over this period,
32	according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and
33	Unplanned Pregnancy, and
34	WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that several recent
35	studies have found abstinence-only programs to be ineffective,
36	including a 2007 study commissioned by the Federal Government
37	and conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and
38	WHEREAS, the Budget of the United States Government for
39	Fiscal Year 2010 transmitted to Congress by the President of
40	the United States eliminates funding for abstinence-only
41	programs and invests in medically accurate and age-appropriate
42	teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection prevention
43	programs for adolescents that have been proven effective, and
44	WHEREAS, Florida must prioritize state-based effective
45	models and strategies for evidence-based teen pregnancy and
46	disease prevention in order to be competitive for federal
47	funding, NOW, THEREFORE,
48
49	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
50
51	Section 1. The Florida Healthy Teens Act.--
52	(1) This section may be cited as the "Florida Healthy
53	Teens Act."
54	(2) Any public school that receives state funding directly
55	or indirectly and that provides information, offers programs, or
56	contracts with third parties to provide information or offer
57	programs regarding family planning, pregnancy, or sexually
58	transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS, shall provide
59	comprehensive, medically accurate, and factual information that
60	is age appropriate.
61	(3) As used in this section, the term:
62	(a) "Comprehensive information" means information that:
63	1. Helps young people gain knowledge about the physical,
64	biological, and hormonal changes of adolescence and subsequent
65	stages of human maturation;
66	2. Develops the knowledge and skills necessary to protect
67	young people with respect to their sexual and reproductive
68	health;
69	3. Helps young people gain knowledge about responsible
70	decisionmaking;
71	4. Is appropriate for use with students of any race,
72	gender, sexual orientation, and ethnic and cultural background;
73	5. Develops healthy attitudes and values concerning
74	growth, development, and body image;
75	6. Encourages young people to practice healthy life
76	skills, including goal setting, decisionmaking, negotiation, and
77	communication;
78	7. Promotes self-esteem and positive interpersonal skills,
79	focusing on skills concerning human relationships and
80	interactions, including platonic, romantic, intimate, and family
81	relationships and interactions, and how to avoid abusive
82	relationships and interactions;
83	8. Teaches that abstinence is the only certain way to
84	avoid pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases; and
85	9. Commencing in the 6th grade:
86	a. Emphasizes the value of abstinence while not ignoring
87	those adolescents who have had sexual intercourse and who
88	thereafter may or may not remain sexually active;
89	b. Helps young people gain knowledge about the specific
90	involvement and responsibilities of sexual decisionmaking for
91	both genders;
92	c. Provides information about the health benefits and side
93	effects of all contraceptives and barrier-protection methods as
94	a means of preventing pregnancy and reducing the risk of
95	contracting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and
96	AIDS;
97	d. Encourages family communication about sexuality among
98	parents, their children, and other adult household members;
99	e. Teaches skills for making responsible decisions about
100	sexuality, including how to avoid unwanted verbal, physical, and
101	sexual advances and how to avoid making unwanted verbal,
102	physical, and sexual advances; and
103	f. Teaches how alcohol and drug use may affect responsible
104	decisionmaking.
105	(b) "Factual information" includes, but is not limited to,
106	medical, psychiatric, psychological, empirical, and statistical
107	statements.
108	(c) "Medically accurate information" means information
109	supported by the weight of research conducted in compliance with
110	generally accepted scientific methods and recognized as accurate
111	and objective by leading professional organizations and agencies
112	having relevant expertise in the field.
113	(4)(a) The parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a
114	school that is subject to the requirements of subsection (2) who
115	believes that the school is not complying with those
116	requirements may file a complaint with the district school
117	superintendent. Within 30 days after receipt of the complaint,
118	the superintendent shall take any warranted corrective action
119	and provide the complainant and the school principal with
120	written notice of the corrective action, if any, that was taken.
121	(b) A parent or guardian who is not satisfied with the
122	district school superintendent's response to the complaint may
123	file an appeal with the district school board within 30 days
124	after receiving the superintendent's written notice of any
125	corrective action or, if notice was not timely provided under
126	paragraph (a), within 60 days after the complaint was filed with
127	the superintendent. Within 30 days after receipt of an appeal
128	under this paragraph, the school board shall take any warranted
129	corrective action and provide the appellant and the
130	superintendent with a written notice of what, if any, corrective
131	action was taken.
132	(c) A parent or guardian who is not satisfied with the
133	district school board's response to such an appeal may file an
134	appeal with the Commissioner of Education within 30 days after
135	receiving the district school board's written notice of any
136	corrective action or, if notice was not timely provided under
137	paragraph (b), within 60 days after the appeal was filed with
138	the school board. The Commissioner of Education shall
139	investigate the claim and make a finding regarding compliance
140	with subsection (2). Upon a finding of substantial
141	noncompliance, the commissioner shall take corrective action,
142	including, but not limited to, notifying the parents and
143	guardians of all students enrolled in the school that the school
144	is in violation of state law.
145	(5) A public school student whose parent makes written
146	request to the school principal shall be exempted from the
147	teaching of reproductive health or any disease, including HIV
148	and AIDS, in accordance with the provisions of s. 1003.42(3),
149	Florida Statutes.
150	Section 2. If any provision of this act or its application
151	to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
152	does not affect the remaining provisions or applications of the
153	act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
154	application, and to this end the provisions of this act are
155	severable.
156	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.