Ohio S.B. 59, 128^th General Assembly
K-12 Health Education Standards
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=128_SB_59

• Directs the State Board of Education, by December 31, 2009, to adopt health education standards for grades K to 12 that are closely modeled after the National Health Education Standards developed by the Joint Committee on National Health Standards.
• Creates the Office of Healthy Schools within the Department of Education to administer health and safety-related services and programs.
• Transfers from the State Board of Education to the Office of Healthy Schools the responsibility for developing guidelines for school districts to follow in adopting standards for food sold on school premises, and makes compliance with the state guidelines mandatory (rather than optional, as in current law).
• Eliminates the requirement that school districts emphasize sexual abstinence when providing venereal disease education (renamed "sexually transmitted infection prevention education" by the bill).
• Establishes instructional and content standards for school districts, community schools, and STEM schools that offer comprehensive sexual health education.
• Requires each school district, community school, STEM school, and ESC that offers comprehensive sexual health education to excuse a student from the instruction upon the request of the student's parent.
• Requires instructional materials used in a comprehensive sexual health education program to be made available for inspection by parents.
• Requires each school district, community school, STEM school, and ESC that offers a comprehensive sexual health education program to provide periodic training for the program's teachers.
• Names the bill the "Healthy Students Act."

Introduced by: Senator Teresa Fedor (D), District 11
Co-Sponsors: Sawyer, Miller, R.

While the bill continues to require school districts to offer venereal disease education (according to current law), which it renames "sexually transmitted infection prevention education," it repeals the requirement that the instruction emphasize sexual abstinence and include the components described above.  Instead, the bill authorizes each school district to offer comprehensive sexual health education that stresses "the value of abstinence while not ignoring those young people who have been or are sexually active" by including instruction on contraceptive and disease reduction measures.  Therefore, under the bill, if a district does not elect to provide the comprehensive education, it still must offer sexually transmitted infection prevention education, subject to the parental opt-out, but it need not stress sexual abstinence as part of the more limited curriculum.
The bill also allows community (charter) schools, STEM schools, and educational service centers (ESCs) to provide comprehensive sexual health education.  All school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and ESCs that voluntarily choose to provide the comprehensive sexual health education must comply with program standards established by the bill.

Proposed standards are included in the bill.

Date introduced: 3/3//09
Committee Assigned: Education, Chair: Gary Cates (R)