S 819 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S 0819 General Bill, By Fair
Similar(S 1026, H 4840)
A BILL TO AMEND ACT 437 OF 1988, RELATING TO THE COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH
EDUCATION ACT, SO AS TO REVISE THE PURPOSE OF THE ACT AND STATE ITS GOALS; AND
TO AMEND CHAPTER 32, TITLE 59, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING
TO THE COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH EDUCATION ACT AND THE PROGRAM OF COMPREHENSIVE
HEALTH EDUCATION, SO AS TO REVISE THE CONTENTS AND REQUIREMENTS OF THE
PROGRAM.
06/04/97 Senate Introduced and read first time
06/04/97 Senate Referred to Committee on Education
A BILL
TO AMEND ACT 437 OF 1988, RELATING TO THE
COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH EDUCATION ACT, SO AS TO
REVISE THE PURPOSE OF THE ACT AND STATE ITS GOALS;
AND TO AMEND CHAPTER 32, TITLE 59, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE
COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH EDUCATION ACT AND THE
PROGRAM OF COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH EDUCATION, SO
AS TO REVISE THE CONTENTS AND REQUIREMENTS OF
THE PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 2 of Act 437 of 1988 is amended to read:
"Section 2. The purpose of this act is to foster the development and
dissemination of educational activities and materials which will assist
South Carolina students, teachers, administrators, and parents in the
perception, appreciation, and understanding of health principles and
problems and responsible sexual behavior.
The goal of this act is to reduce the incidence of sexual activity
among school age youth."
SECTION 2. Chapter 32, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"CHAPTER 32
Comprehensive Health Education Program
Section 59-32-5. This may be cited as the 'Comprehensive Health
Education Act'.
Section 59-32-10. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'Comprehensive health education' means health education in
a school setting that is planned and carried out with the purpose of
maintaining, reinforcing, or enhancing the health, health-related
skills, and health attitudes and practices of children and youth that are
conducive to their good health and that promote wellness, health
maintenance, and disease prevention healthy
behavior. It includes age-appropriate, sequential instruction in
health either as part of existing courses or as a special course.
(2) 'Reproductive health education' means instruction in human
physiology, conception, prenatal care and development, childbirth,
and postnatal care, but does not include instruction concerning sexual
practices outside marriage or practices unrelated to reproduction
except within the context of the risk of disease. Abstinence
and the risks associated with sexual activity outside of marriage must
be strongly emphasized.
(3) 'Family life education' means instruction intended to:
(a) develop an understanding of the physical, mental, emotional,
social, economic, and psychological aspects of close personal
relationships and an understanding of the physiological,
psychological, and cultural foundations of human development;
(b) provide instruction that will support the development of
responsible personal values and behavior and aid in establishing a
strong family life for themselves in the future and emphasize the
responsibilities of marriage.;
(c) provide instruction as to the laws of this State relating to the
sexual conduct of minors, including criminal sexual conduct;
(d) develop an understanding of the value of a two-parent
family and the relationship that exists between premarital and
extramarital sexual behavior and the breakup of the two-parent
family.
(4) 'Pregnancy prevention education' means instruction intended
to:
(a) stress the importance of abstaining from sexual activity until
marriage;
(b) help students develop skills to enable them to resist peer
pressure and abstain from sexual activity;
(c) explain methods of contraception and the risks and benefits
of each method. Abortion must not be included as a method of birth
control. Instruction explaining the methods of contraception must
not be included in any education program for grades kindergarten
through fifth. Contraceptive information must be given in the context
of future family planning. Since it is unlawful for minors to
participate in sexual intercourse, instruction regarding methods of
contraception and sexually transmitted diseases may be offered only
to students as a means of disease and pregnancy prevention within
marriage. Instruction explaining the methods of birth control or
prevention of sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS must not
be included in any education program for grades kindergarten
through eighth. Instruction in methods of contraception and sexually
transmitted disease prevention may be offered only in grades nine
through twelve and may be offered only to a student whose parents
or legal guardian have given their written permission. This written
permission must be obtained each year the instruction is offered.
Local districts may opt out of pregnancy prevention education.
(5) 'Local school board' means the governing board of public
school districts as well as those of other state-supported institutions
which provide educational services to students at the elementary and
secondary school levels. For purposes of this chapter,
programs, or services provided by the Department of Health
and Environmental Control in educational settings must be approved
by the local school board.
(6) 'Board' means the State Board of Education.
(7) 'Department' means the State Department of Education.
(8) 'Abstinence' means abstention from unlawful sexual
intercourse.
Section 59-32-15. The State Board of Education is
empowered to assure compliance by the State Department of
Education in overseeing the correct implementation of the
Comprehensive Health Education Act by promoting the virtue of
chastity.
Section 59-32-20. Before August 1, 1988, the The
board, through the department, shall select or develop an instructional
unit with separate components addressing the subjects of
reproductive health education, family life education, pregnancy
prevention education, and sexually transmitted diseases
disease prevention education and make the instructional unit
available to local school districts. The board, through the
department, also shall make available information about other
programs developed by other states upon request of a local school
district.
Section 59-32-30. (A) Pursuant to guidelines developed by the
board, each local school board shall implement the following
program of instruction:
(1) Beginning with the 1988-89 school year, for grades
kindergarten through five, instruction in comprehensive health
education must include the following subjects: community health,
consumer health, environmental health, growth and development,
nutritional health, personal health, prevention and control of diseases
and disorders, safety and accident prevention, substance use and
abuse, dental health, and mental and emotional health. Sexually
transmitted diseases as defined in the annual Department of Health
and Environmental Control List of Reportable Diseases are to be
excluded from instruction on the prevention and control of diseases
and disorders. At the discretion of the local board, age-appropriate
instruction in reproductive health may be included.
(2) Beginning with the 1988-89 school year, for grades
six through eight, instruction in comprehensive health must include
the following subjects: community health, consumer health,
environmental health, growth and development, nutritional health,
personal health, prevention and control of diseases and disorders,
safety and accident prevention, substance use and abuse, dental
health, mental and emotional health, and reproductive health
education. Sexually transmitted diseases are to be included as a
part of instruction. At the discretion of the local board,
instruction in family life education or pregnancy prevention
education or both may be included, but instruction in these
subjects may not include an explanation of the methods of
contraception before the sixth grade.
(3) Beginning with the 1989-90 school year, at least one time
during the four years of grades nine through twelve, each student
shall receive instruction in comprehensive health education,
including at least seven hundred fifty not to exceed a total of
two hundred minutes of reproductive health education and
pregnancy prevention education during the four years of grades
nine through twelve.
(4) The South Carolina Educational Television Commission
shall work with the department in developing instructional programs
and materials that may be available to the school districts. Films and
other materials may be designed for the purpose of explaining bodily
functions or the human reproductive process. These materials may
not contain actual or simulated portrayals of sexual activities or
sexual intercourse, and may present only representations of the
human body and form and may not present actual photographs or
photography of the human body.
(5) The program of instruction provided for in this section
may not include a discussion of alternate sexual lifestyles from
heterosexual relationships including, but not limited to, homosexual
relationships except in the context of instruction concerning sexually
transmitted diseases, may not consider homosexuality except
to say that homosexual behavior is illegal in this State and
homosexual marriages are not legal in this State.
(6) In grades nine through twelve, students also must
also be given appropriate instruction that adoption is a
positive alternative.
(B) Local school boards may use the instructional unit made
available by the board pursuant to Section 59-32-20, or local boards
may develop or select their own instructional materials addressing the
subjects of reproductive health education, family life education, and
pregnancy prevention education. To assist in the selection of
components and curriculum materials, each local school board shall
appoint a thirteen-member local advisory committee consisting of
two parents, three clergy, two health professionals, two teachers, two
students, one being the president of the student body of a high school,
and two other persons not employed by the local school district.
(C) The time required for health instruction for students in
kindergarten through eighth grade must not be reduced below the
level required during the 1986-87 school year. Health instruction for
students in grades nine through twelve may be given either as part of
an existing course or as a special course.
(D) No contraceptive device or contraceptive medication may be
distributed in or on the school grounds of any public elementary or
secondary school. No school district may contract with any
contraceptive provider for their distribution in or on the school
grounds. Except as to that instruction provided by this chapter
relating to complications which may develop from all types of
abortions, school districts may not offer programs, instruction, or
activities including abortion counseling, information about abortion
services, or assist in obtaining abortion abortions,
and materials containing this information must not be distributed in
schools. Nothing in this section prevents school authorities from
referring students to a physician for medical reasons after making
reasonable efforts to notify the student's students'
parents or legal guardians or the appropriate court, if applicable.
(E) Any course or instruction in sexually transmitted diseases must
be taught within the reproductive health, family life, or pregnancy
prevention education components, or it must be presented as a
separate component.
(F) Instruction in pregnancy prevention education must be
presented separately to male and female students.
(G) AIDS education or education on sexually transmitted
disease must be presented separately to male and female
students.
Section 59-32-40. As part of their program for staff
development, the department and local school boards shall provide
appropriate staff development activities for educational personnel
participating in the comprehensive health education program. Local
school boards are encouraged to coordinate the activities with the
department and institutions of higher learning.
Section 59-32-50. Pursuant to policies and guidelines adopted by
the local school board, public school principals shall develop a
method of notifying parents of students in the relevant grades of the
content of the instructional materials concerning reproductive health,
family life, pregnancy prevention, and of their option to
exempt include their child from in
this instruction, and sexually transmitted diseases if instruction in the
diseases is presented as a separate component. Notice must be
provided sufficiently in advance of a student's enrollment in courses
using these instructional materials to allow parents and legal
guardians the opportunity to preview the materials and
exempt include their children.
A public school principal, upon receipt of a statement signed by
a student's parent or legal guardian stating that participation by the
student in the health education program conflicts with the family's
beliefs, shall exempt that student from any portion or all of the units
on reproductive health, family life, and pregnancy prevention where
any conflicts occur. No student must be penalized as a result of an
exemption. School districts shall use procedures to ensure that
students exempted from the program by their parents or guardians are
not embarrassed by the exemption.
School districts shall adopt procedures to ensure that
students not included in the program by their parents or guardians are
not penalized.
Section 59-32-60. The department shall assure district compliance
with this chapter. Each local school board shall consider the programs
addressed in this chapter in developing its annual district report.
The board shall include a statement of compliance with the State
Board of Education.
Section 59-32-70. The provisions of this chapter do not apply to
private schools.
Section 59-32-80. Any teacher violating the provisions of this
chapter or who refuses to comply with the curriculum prescribed by
the school board as provided by this chapter is subject to dismissal.
Section 59-32-90. Films, pictures, or diagrams in any
comprehensive health education program in public schools must be
designed solely for the purpose of explaining bodily functions or the
human reproduction process and may not include actual or simulated
portrayals of sexual activities or sexual intercourse or actual
photographs showing partial or total nudity.
Section 59-32-100. The proscriptions and instructions included
in this chapter are relevant to course content and shall apply to all
instruction, grades kindergarten through twelve, without regard to
course name, title, or description and shall apply to all who offer the
instruction within a school or under the auspices of a school that
receives state funding."
SECTION 3. The amendments to Chapter 32 of Title 59 of the
1976 Code, as contained in Section 2 of this act, are applicable
beginning with school year 1998-99.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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