House File 245 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 245 BY STAED , KRESSIG , BROWN-POWERS , MASCHER , STECKMAN , WOLFE , DONAHUE , ANDERSON , JACOBY , KURTH , and EHLERT A BILL FOR An Act requiring school districts to adopt a child sexual 1 abuse prevention instructional program for students in 2 kindergarten through grade twelve. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2103YH (3) 89 kh/jh
H.F. 245 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 279.50B Child sexual abuse 1 prevention instructional program. 2 1. The board of directors of each school district 3 shall adopt and implement a child sexual abuse prevention 4 instructional program for students in kindergarten through 5 grade twelve. The program shall include all of the following: 6 a. Developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and 7 evidence-based instruction for each grade level. 8 b. A minimum of four instructional sessions per school year, 9 with each year’s instruction building on the previous year’s 10 instruction. 11 c. Age-appropriate curriculum including role-playing, 12 discussion, activities, and books to educate students regarding 13 child sexual abuse prevention. 14 d. Instruction providing students with the knowledge and 15 tools to communicate incidents of sexual abuse. 16 e. Instruction regarding safe touch, unsafe touch, safe 17 secrets, and unsafe secrets, and how to escape and report a 18 sexual abuse situation. 19 f. Techniques to recognize child sexual abuse, skills to 20 reduce vulnerability, and encouragement to report child sexual 21 abuse. 22 g. An evaluation component with measurable outcomes. 23 h. A professional training component for administrators, 24 teachers, and other school personnel regarding communicating 25 child sexual abuse prevention techniques to students, effects 26 of child sexual abuse on children, receiving child sexual abuse 27 reports and disclosures, and mandated reporting. 28 i. A parental involvement component to inform parents 29 about child sexual abuse topics, including characteristics of 30 offenders, grooming behaviors, and how to discuss child sexual 31 abuse prevention with children. 32 2. Program instruction may be delivered by instructors 33 including practitioners, school counselors, and outside agency 34 prevention educators, provided the instructors have knowledge 35 -1- LSB 2103YH (3) 89 kh/jh 1/ 3
H.F. 245 of and training in child sexual abuse prevention. 1 Sec. 2. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 2 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 3 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 4 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 5 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 6 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 7 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 8 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 9 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 10 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 11 districts. 12 EXPLANATION 13 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 14 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 15 This bill requires the board of directors of each school 16 district to adopt and implement a child sexual abuse prevention 17 instructional program for students in kindergarten through 18 grade 12. 19 The program shall include developmentally appropriate, 20 culturally sensitive, and evidence-based instruction; a minimum 21 of four instructional sessions per school year, with each 22 year’s instruction building on the previous year’s instruction; 23 age-appropriate curriculum including role-playing, discussion, 24 activities, and books to educate students regarding child 25 sexual abuse prevention; instruction providing students with 26 the knowledge and tools to communicate incidents of sexual 27 abuse; instruction in how to recognize, escape, and report 28 sexual abuse; skills to reduce vulnerability and encouragement 29 to report child sexual abuse; an evaluation component with 30 measurable outcomes; a professional training component for 31 school personnel; and a parental involvement component to 32 inform parents about child sexual abuse topics. 33 Program instruction may be delivered by practitioners, 34 school counselors, and outside agency prevention educators, 35 -2- LSB 2103YH (3) 89 kh/jh 2/ 3
H.F. 245 provided the instructors have knowledge of and training in 1 child sexual abuse prevention. 2 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 3 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of 4 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 5 district from state school foundation aid received by the 6 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 7 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate 8 funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The 9 inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the 10 requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state 11 mandates included in the bill. 12 -3- LSB 2103YH (3) 89 kh/jh 3/ 3