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2006 SESSION

060288380
HOUSE BILL NO. 164
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Education
on January 25, 2006)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Lingamfelter)
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 22.1-207.1 and 22.1-207.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to family life education.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 22.1-207.1 and 22.1-207.2 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 22.1-207.1. Family life education.

A. The Board of Education shall develop by December 1, 1987, standards of learning and curriculum guidelines for a comprehensive, sequential family life education curriculum in grades K through 12. Such curriculum guidelines shall include instruction as appropriate for the age of the student in family living and community relationships,; abstinence education,; the value of postponing sexual activity,; the benefits of adoption as a positive choice in the event of an unwanted pregnancy,; human sexuality,; human reproduction,; information on the prevention, transmission, and spread of sexually transmitted diseases including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); steps to take to avoid sexual assault, and the availability of counseling and legal resources,; and, in the event of such sexual assault, the importance of immediate medical attention and advice, as well as the requirements of the law and the etiology, prevention and effects of sexually transmitted diseases.

B. All such instruction shall be designed to promote parental involvement, foster positive self concepts and provide mechanisms for coping with peer pressure and the stresses of modern living according to the students' developmental stages and abilities. The Board shall also establish requirements for appropriate training for teachers of family life education, which shall include training in instructional elements to support the various curriculum components.

C. Any family life education course including a discussion of sexual intercourse shall emphasize that abstinence is the accepted norm and is the only guarantee against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Course materials and instruction in any such family life education course shall include the following:

1. Age appropriate subject matter;

2. An emphasis on honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage;

3. A discussion on the value of postponing sexual activity until marriage including the emotional and psychological consequences of adolescent sexual intercourse and unwanted pregnancy;

4. Information on the possible transmission of sexually transmitted diseases through protected and unprotected sexual intercourse;

5. An overview of laws addressing (i) the financial responsibility of parents to children born out of wedlock and (ii) circumstances under which it is unlawful for unmarried persons to have sexual relations; and

6. Advice on avoiding unwanted sexual advances and resisting negative peer pressure.

D. For the purposes of this section, "abstinence education" means an educational or motivational component which has as its exclusive purpose teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by teenagers' abstaining from sexual activity before marriage.

E. No student shall be required to participate in any class taught pursuant to this section if a parent or guardian submits written objection thereto.

§ 22.1-207.2. Right of parents to review certain materials; summaries distributed on request.

Every parent, guardian or other person in the Commonwealth having control or charge of any child who is required by § 22.1-254 A to send such child to a public school shall have the right to review the complete any family life curricula, whether such curricula are mandatory or optional, including all supplemental materials used in any family life education program. A complete copy of all printed materials and a description of all audio-visual materials shall be kept in the school library or office and made available for review to any parent or guardian during school office hours before and during the school year. The audio-visual materials shall be made available to parents for review, upon request, on the same basis as printed materials are made available.

Each school board that offers any family life education program shall develop and, when so requested by an individual parent or guardian of a student participating in the family life education program, distribute to that parent or guardian, a summary designed to assist parents in understanding the program implemented in its school division as such program progresses and to encourage parental guidance and involvement in the instruction of the students. Such information shall reflect the curricula of the program as taught in the classroom.