H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 256.11, subsections 2, 3, and 4, Code 1 2024, are amended to read as follows: 2 2. a. The kindergarten program shall include experiences 3 designed to develop character and healthy emotional and social 4 habits and growth in the language arts and communication 5 skills, as well as a capacity for the completion of individual 6 tasks, and protect and increase physical well-being with 7 attention given to experiences relating to the development of 8 life skills and, subject to section 279.80 , age-appropriate and 9 research-based human growth and development. A kindergarten 10 teacher shall be licensed to teach in kindergarten. An 11 accredited nonpublic school must meet the requirements of this 12 subsection only if the nonpublic school offers a kindergarten 13 program; provided, however, that section 279.80 shall not apply 14 to a nonpublic school. 15 b. (1) The experiences designed to develop character shall 16 include instruction in accountability, altruism, ambition, 17 charity, cheerfulness, cleanliness, compassion, conscience, 18 courage, courtesy, curiosity, dignity, diligence, duty, faith, 19 familial devotion, forbearance, friendliness, gratitude, 20 hardiness, helpfulness, honesty, honor, impartiality, 21 independent judgment, initiative, industry, integrity, 22 justice, kindness, loyalty, moderation, obedience, patience, 23 perseverance, propriety, prudence, punctuality, reliability, 24 responsibility, reverence, self-control, self-reliance, 25 temperance, thrift, tolerance, and trustworthiness. 26 (2) The experiences designed to develop character shall 27 not define or teach character traits in any manner that might 28 promote or encourage students to participate in conduct that 29 would violate any federal, state, or local law. 30 (3) Any assessment of a student’s understanding of 31 development of character shall be limited to and must reflect 32 the material taught in the classroom. 33 (4) Any assessment administered pursuant to this paragraph 34 shall not evaluate whether a student evidences a specific 35 -1- LSB 5632YC (3) 90 jda/jh 1/ 6

H.F. _____ character trait in the student’s life. 1 c. The requirement to provide experiences designed to 2 develop character shall not apply to a nonpublic school. 3 3. a. The following areas shall be taught in grades 4 one through six: English-language arts, social studies, 5 mathematics, science, health, physical education, traffic 6 safety, music, visual art, character development, and, 7 subject to section 279.80 , age-appropriate and research-based 8 human growth and development. Computer science instruction 9 incorporating the standards established under section 256.7, 10 subsection 26 , paragraph “a” , subparagraph (4), shall be 11 offered in at least one grade level commencing with the school 12 year beginning July 1, 2023. The health curriculum shall 13 include the characteristics of communicable diseases. The 14 state board as part of accreditation standards shall adopt 15 curriculum definitions for implementing the elementary program. 16 b. (1) The character development curriculum shall include 17 instruction in accountability, altruism, ambition, charity, 18 cheerfulness, cleanliness, compassion, conscience, courage, 19 courtesy, curiosity, dignity, diligence, duty, faith, familial 20 devotion, forbearance, friendliness, gratitude, hardiness, 21 helpfulness, honesty, honor, impartiality, independent 22 judgment, initiative, industry, integrity, justice, kindness, 23 loyalty, moderation, obedience, patience, perseverance, 24 propriety, prudence, punctuality, reliability, responsibility, 25 reverence, self-control, self-reliance, temperance, thrift, 26 tolerance, and trustworthiness. 27 (2) The character development curriculum shall not define 28 or teach character traits in any manner that might promote or 29 encourage students to participate in conduct that would violate 30 any federal, state, or local law. 31 (3) Any assessment of a student’s understanding of 32 character development shall be limited to and must reflect the 33 material taught in the classroom. 34 (4) Any assessment administered pursuant to this paragraph 35 -2- LSB 5632YC (3) 90 jda/jh 2/ 6

H.F. _____ shall not evaluate whether a student evidences a specific 1 character trait in the student’s life. 2 c. The requirement to provide a character development 3 curriculum shall not apply to a nonpublic school. 4 4. a. The following shall be taught in grades seven and 5 eight: English-language arts; social studies; mathematics; 6 science; health; age-appropriate and research-based human 7 growth and development; career exploration and development; 8 physical education; music; character development; and visual 9 art. Computer science instruction incorporating the standards 10 established under section 256.7, subsection 26 , paragraph “a” , 11 subparagraph (4), shall be offered in at least one grade level 12 commencing with the school year beginning July 1, 2023. Career 13 exploration and development shall be designed so that students 14 are appropriately prepared to create an individual career 15 and academic plan pursuant to section 279.61 , incorporate 16 foundational career and technical education concepts aligned 17 with the six career and technical education service areas as 18 defined in subsection 5 , paragraph “h” , incorporate relevant 19 twenty-first century skills to facilitate career readiness, 20 and introduce students to career opportunities within the 21 local community and across this state. The health curriculum 22 shall include age-appropriate and research-based information 23 regarding the characteristics of sexually transmitted diseases. 24 The state board as part of accreditation standards shall adopt 25 curriculum definitions for implementing the program in grades 26 seven and eight. However, this subsection shall not apply to 27 the teaching of career exploration and development in nonpublic 28 schools. 29 b. (1) The character development curriculum shall include 30 instruction in accountability, altruism, ambition, charity, 31 cheerfulness, cleanliness, compassion, conscience, courage, 32 courtesy, curiosity, dignity, diligence, duty, faith, familial 33 devotion, forbearance, friendliness, gratitude, hardiness, 34 helpfulness, honesty, honor, impartiality, independent 35 -3- LSB 5632YC (3) 90 jda/jh 3/ 6

H.F. _____ judgment, initiative, industry, integrity, justice, kindness, 1 loyalty, moderation, obedience, patience, perseverance, 2 propriety, prudence, punctuality, reliability, responsibility, 3 reverence, self-control, self-reliance, temperance, thrift, 4 tolerance, and trustworthiness. 5 (2) The character development curriculum shall not define 6 or teach character traits in any manner that might promote or 7 encourage students to participate in conduct that would violate 8 any federal, state, or local law. 9 (3) Any assessment of a student’s understanding of 10 character development shall be limited to and must reflect the 11 material taught in the classroom. 12 (4) Any assessment administered pursuant to this paragraph 13 shall not evaluate whether a student evidences a specific 14 character trait in the student’s life. 15 c. The requirement to provide a character development 16 curriculum shall not apply to a nonpublic school. 17 Sec. 2. Section 256.11, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended 18 by adding the following new paragraph: 19 NEW PARAGRAPH . m. (1) One unit of character development, 20 which shall include instruction in accountability, altruism, 21 ambition, charity, cheerfulness, cleanliness, compassion, 22 conscience, courage, courtesy, curiosity, dignity, 23 diligence, duty, faith, familial devotion, forbearance, 24 friendliness, gratitude, hardiness, helpfulness, honesty, 25 honor, impartiality, independent judgment, initiative, 26 industry, integrity, justice, kindness, loyalty, moderation, 27 obedience, patience, perseverance, propriety, prudence, 28 punctuality, reliability, responsibility, reverence, 29 self-control, self-reliance, temperance, thrift, tolerance, and 30 trustworthiness. 31 (2) The character development curriculum shall not define 32 or teach character traits in any manner that might promote or 33 encourage students to participate in conduct that would violate 34 any federal, state, or local law. 35 -4- LSB 5632YC (3) 90 jda/jh 4/ 6

H.F. _____ (3) Any assessment of a student’s understanding of 1 character development shall be limited to and must reflect the 2 material taught in the classroom. 3 (4) Any assessment administered pursuant to this paragraph 4 shall not evaluate whether a student evidences a specific 5 character trait in the student’s life. 6 (5) This paragraph shall not apply to a nonpublic school. 7 Sec. 3. Section 256E.7, subsection 2, paragraph g, Code 8 2024, is amended to read as follows: 9 g. Be subject to and comply with the requirements of section 10 256.7, subsection 21 , and the educational standards of section 11 256.11 , unless specifically waived by the state board during 12 the application process ; provided, however, that the state 13 board shall not waive the educational standards related to 14 experiences designed to develop character in kindergarten 15 established in section 256.11, subsection 2, or the educational 16 standards related to the character development curriculum 17 established in section 256.11, subsections 3 and 4, and section 18 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph “m” . 19 Sec. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 20 3, shall not apply to this Act. 21 EXPLANATION 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 23 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 24 This bill requires school districts and charter schools 25 to provide instruction related to character development to 26 students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12. The 27 bill establishes what the character development curriculum 28 is to include. The bill prohibits the character development 29 curriculum from defining or teaching character traits in any 30 manner that might promote or encourage students to participate 31 in conduct that would violate any federal, state, or local 32 law. The bill provides that any assessment of a student’s 33 understanding of character development shall be limited to and 34 must reflect the material taught in the classroom. The bill 35 -5- LSB 5632YC (3) 90 jda/jh 5/ 6

H.F. _____ also provides that any character development assessment that is 1 administered shall not evaluate whether a student evidences a 2 specific character trait in the student’s life. 3 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 4 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 5 25B.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a school district 6 from complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of 7 the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, 8 school districts are required to comply with any state mandate 9 included in the bill. 10 -6- LSB 5632YC (3) 90 jda/jh 6/ 6