Senate File 159 - Introduced SENATE FILE 159 BY SALMON A BILL FOR An Act relating to education, including modifying the 1 responsibilities of the state board of education and 2 school districts, prohibiting instruction related to 3 gender identity or sexual orientation in school districts 4 and charter schools in kindergarten through grade eight, 5 modifying provisions associated with the human growth and 6 development instruction and health screenings provided in 7 school districts, charter schools, and innovation zone 8 schools, and providing civil penalties. 9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 10 TLSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh

S.F. 159 Section 1. Section 256.7, Code 2023, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 35. Adopt rules establishing standards for 3 training programs related to student support services that are 4 provided by school districts to school district employees or 5 contractors. 6 Sec. 2. Section 256.11, subsections 2, 3, and 4, Code 2023, 7 are amended to read as follows: 8 2. The kindergarten program shall include experiences 9 designed to develop healthy emotional and social habits and 10 growth in the language arts and communication skills, as well 11 as a capacity for the completion of individual tasks, and 12 protect and increase physical well-being with attention given 13 to experiences relating to the development of life skills and , 14 subject to section 279.78, age-appropriate and research-based 15 human growth and development. A kindergarten teacher shall be 16 licensed to teach in kindergarten. An accredited nonpublic 17 school must meet the requirements of this subsection only if 18 the nonpublic school offers a kindergarten program. 19 3. The following areas shall be taught in grades one through 20 six: English-language arts, social studies, mathematics, 21 science, health, age-appropriate and research-based 22 human growth and development, physical education, traffic 23 safety, music, and visual art , and, subject to section 24 279.78, age-appropriate and research-based human growth and 25 development . Computer science instruction incorporating 26 the standards established under section 256.7, subsection 27 26 , paragraph “a” , subparagraph (4), shall be offered in 28 at least one grade level commencing with the school year 29 beginning July 1, 2023. The health curriculum shall include 30 the characteristics of communicable diseases including acquired 31 immune deficiency syndrome. The state board as part of 32 accreditation standards shall adopt curriculum definitions for 33 implementing the elementary program. 34 4. The following shall be taught in grades seven and 35 -1- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 1/ 10

S.F. 159 eight: English-language arts; social studies; mathematics; 1 science; health; subject to section 279.78, age-appropriate and 2 research-based human growth and development; career exploration 3 and development; physical education; music; and visual art. 4 Computer science instruction incorporating the standards 5 established under section 256.7, subsection 26 , paragraph “a” , 6 subparagraph (4), shall be offered in at least one grade level 7 commencing with the school year beginning July 1, 2023. Career 8 exploration and development shall be designed so that students 9 are appropriately prepared to create an individual career 10 and academic plan pursuant to section 279.61 , incorporate 11 foundational career and technical education concepts aligned 12 with the six career and technical education service areas 13 as defined in subsection 5 , paragraph “h” , and incorporate 14 relevant twenty-first century skills. The health curriculum 15 shall include age-appropriate and research-based information 16 regarding the characteristics of sexually transmitted diseases, 17 including HPV and the availability of a vaccine to prevent 18 HPV, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The state board 19 as part of accreditation standards shall adopt curriculum 20 definitions for implementing the program in grades seven 21 and eight. However, this subsection shall not apply to the 22 teaching of career exploration and development in nonpublic 23 schools. For purposes of this section , “age-appropriate” , 24 “HPV” , and “research-based” mean the same as defined in section 25 279.50 . 26 Sec. 3. Section 256E.7, subsection 2, Code 2023, is amended 27 by adding the following new paragraphs: 28 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0j. Be subject to and comply with 29 the requirements of section 279.77 relating to parental 30 notifications and parental consent related to certain screening 31 forms in the same manner as a school district. 32 NEW PARAGRAPH . 00j. Be subject to and comply with the 33 requirements of section 279.78 relating to sexual orientation 34 and gender identity instruction in kindergarten through grade 35 -2- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 2/ 10

S.F. 159 eight in the same manner as a school district. 1 Sec. 4. Section 279.50, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2023, are 2 amended to read as follows: 3 1. Each Subject to section 279.78, each school board shall 4 provide instruction in kindergarten which gives attention 5 to experiences relating to life skills and human growth and 6 development as required in section 256.11 . School districts 7 shall use research provided in section 256.9, subsection 46 , 8 paragraph “b” , to evaluate and upgrade their instructional 9 materials and teaching strategies for human growth and 10 development. 11 2. Each school board shall provide age-appropriate and 12 research-based instruction in human growth and development 13 including instruction regarding human sexuality, self-esteem, 14 stress management, interpersonal relationships, domestic 15 abuse, HPV and the availability of a vaccine to prevent HPV, 16 and acquired immune deficiency syndrome as required in section 17 256.11 , in grades one nine through twelve. 18 Sec. 5. Section 279.50, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 19 following new subsection: 20 NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. Subject to section 279.78, each 21 school board shall provide age-appropriate and research-based 22 instruction in human growth and development including 23 instruction regarding human sexuality, self-esteem, stress 24 management, interpersonal relationships, domestic abuse, HPV 25 and the availability of a vaccine to prevent HPV, and acquired 26 immune deficiency syndrome as required in section 256.11, in 27 grades one through eight. 28 Sec. 6. Section 279.76, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 29 following new subsection: 30 NEW SUBSECTION . 01. At the beginning of each school year, 31 each school district shall notify the parent or guardian of 32 each student enrolled in the school district of all invasive 33 physical examinations, and student health screenings that are 34 not required by state or federal law, that may be provided in 35 -3- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 3/ 10

S.F. 159 the student’s attendance center during the school year. 1 Sec. 7. Section 279.76, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 2 following new subsection: 3 NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. A parent or guardian providing written 4 consent pursuant to subsection 1 shall not be construed to do 5 any of the following: 6 a. Prohibit the parent or guardian from accessing any 7 educational records or health records related to the student 8 that are created, maintained, or used by the school district. 9 b. Prohibit an employee of the school district from 10 providing a notification required pursuant to section 279.77. 11 Sec. 8. NEW SECTION . 279.77 Student welfare —— school 12 district responsibilities —— parental consent required for 13 certain screening forms. 14 1. a. The board of directors of a school district shall 15 adopt policies that require school district employees to 16 notify the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the 17 school district if a change in the student’s mental health or 18 well-being, emotional health or well-being, physical health or 19 well-being, or the school district’s ability to provide a safe 20 and supportive learning environment for the student results in 21 the school district changing the services the school district 22 provides to the student or the school district’s monitoring or 23 supervision of the student. 24 b. The policies the board of directors of a school district 25 adopts pursuant to paragraph “a” shall do all of the following: 26 (1) Reinforce the fundamental right of parents and 27 guardians to make decisions related to the upbringing and 28 control of the parent’s or guardian’s children. 29 (2) Require employees of the school district to encourage 30 the student to discuss issues relating to the student’s mental 31 health or well-being, emotional health or well-being, physical 32 health or well-being, or the learning environment within the 33 school district with the student’s parent or guardian, or to 34 facilitate such discussion. 35 -4- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 4/ 10

S.F. 159 c. The policies the board of directors of a school district 1 adopts pursuant to paragraph “a” shall not do any of the 2 following: 3 (1) Prohibit parents or guardians from accessing any 4 educational records or health records related to the student 5 that are created, maintained, or used by the school district. 6 (2) Encourage, or have the effect of encouraging, a student 7 to withhold information from the student’s parent or guardian. 8 (3) Prohibit or discourage an employee of the school 9 district from contacting the student’s parent or guardian 10 regarding critical decisions affecting the student’s mental 11 health or well-being, emotional health or well-being, or 12 physical health or well-being. 13 (4) Require an employee of the school district to provide 14 information to the parent or guardian of a student if a 15 reasonably prudent person would determine that providing such 16 information will likely result in child abuse or abuse as 17 defined in section 232.68. 18 2. Before administering any screening form, survey, or 19 questionnaire to a student enrolled in kindergarten through 20 grade eight that is related to the student’s health or 21 well-being, a school district must provide a copy of the 22 screening form, survey, or questionnaire to the student’s 23 parent or guardian and obtain the written consent of the 24 parent or guardian to administer the screening form, survey, 25 or questionnaire. 26 Sec. 9. NEW SECTION . 279.78 Sexual orientation and gender 27 identity —— prohibited instruction. 28 1. As used in this section: 29 a. “Gender identity” means the same as defined in section 30 216.2. 31 b. “Sexual orientation” means the same as defined in section 32 216.2. 33 2. A school district shall not provide any program, 34 curriculum, material, test, survey, questionnaire, activity, 35 -5- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 5/ 10

S.F. 159 announcement, promotion, or instruction of any kind relating 1 to gender identity or sexual orientation to students in 2 kindergarten through grade eight. 3 Sec. 10. NEW SECTION . 279.79 Process for potential 4 violations —— human growth and development instruction, student 5 welfare, and prohibition on sexual orientation and gender 6 identity instruction. 7 1. A parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a school 8 district who alleges a potential violation of section 279.50, 9 subsection 1 or 1A, section 279.77, or section 279.78 by an 10 employee or contractor of the school district may notify the 11 board of directors of the school district of the potential 12 violation. 13 2. A board of directors of a school district that receives 14 a notification pursuant to subsection 1 shall consult with 15 the parent or guardian and, if the board of directors agrees 16 a potential violation of section 279.50, subsection 1 or 1A, 17 section 279.77, or section 279.78 may have occurred, remedy the 18 violation within thirty days after receipt of the notification 19 pursuant to subsection 1. 20 3. If, thirty days or more after providing the notification 21 pursuant to subsection 1, the parent or guardian reasonably 22 believes that the board of directors of the school district 23 has not remedied the potential violation of section 279.50, 24 subsection 1 or 1A, section 279.77, or section 279.78, the 25 parent or guardian may take any of the following actions: 26 a. Request that the state board of education appoint an 27 administrative law judge to provide a recommendation for a 28 resolution of the dispute. Within thirty days after receipt 29 of the request, the state board of education shall appoint an 30 administrative law judge who shall consider the information 31 provided by the school district and the parent or guardian, 32 determine the facts related to the potential violation, and 33 provide a recommendation for a resolution of the dispute to the 34 state board of education. Within thirty days after receipt of 35 -6- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 6/ 10

S.F. 159 the administrative law judge’s recommendation, the state board 1 of education shall either approve or reject the recommendation. 2 The decision of the state board of education shall be final. 3 The school district is responsible for all costs associated 4 with the administrative proceeding described in this paragraph. 5 b. Bring a civil action for injunctive relief, declaratory 6 relief, or damages against the school district. If the 7 parent or guardian is the prevailing party in a civil action 8 instituted pursuant to this paragraph, the court shall award 9 reasonable court costs and attorney fees to the parent or 10 guardian and shall assess a civil penalty against the school 11 district in an amount not less than ten thousand dollars and 12 not more than fifty thousand dollars. The court may award 13 compensatory damages for injury and loss to the parent or 14 guardian. 15 4. Each school district shall annually provide to the parent 16 or guardian of any student enrolled in the school district with 17 information related to the procedure for resolving potential 18 violations of section 279.50, subsection 1 or 1A, section 19 279.77, and section 279.78, provided in this section. 20 5. The state board of education shall adopt rules pursuant 21 to chapter 17A to administer this section. 22 EXPLANATION 23 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 24 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 25 This bill relates to education, including modifying the 26 responsibilities of the state board of education and school 27 districts, prohibiting instruction related to gender identity 28 or sexual orientation in school districts and charter schools 29 in kindergarten through grade eight, and modifying provisions 30 associated with the human growth and development instruction 31 and health screenings provided in school districts, charter 32 schools, and innovation zone schools. 33 The bill requires the state board of education to adopt 34 rules establishing standards for training programs related to 35 -7- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 7/ 10

S.F. 159 student support services that are provided by school districts 1 to school district employees or contractors. 2 The bill enacts new Code section 279.78, which prohibits 3 instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation 4 in school districts and charter schools in kindergarten 5 through grade eight. The bill makes conforming changes to 6 Code sections 256.11 (educational standards) and 279.50 (human 7 growth and development instruction) to provide that the human 8 growth and development instruction provided to students in 9 kindergarten through grade eight shall not include any program, 10 curriculum, material, test, survey, questionnaire, activity, 11 announcement, promotion, or instruction of any kind relating 12 to gender identity or sexual orientation. The bill defines 13 “gender identity” and “sexual orientation”. The bill requires 14 the human growth and development instruction provided in 15 kindergarten to be both age-appropriate and research-based. 16 The bill requires each school district, charter school, and 17 innovation zone school, at the beginning of each school year, 18 to notify the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in 19 the school district of all invasive physical examinations, and 20 student health screenings that are not required by state or 21 federal law, that may be provided in the student’s attendance 22 center during the school year. 23 The bill enacts new Code section 279.77, which requires 24 the board of directors of a school district to adopt policies 25 that require school district employees to notify the parent 26 or guardian of a student enrolled in the school district if a 27 change in the student’s mental health or well-being, emotional 28 health or well-being, physical health or well-being, or the 29 school district’s ability to provide a safe and supportive 30 learning environment for the student results in the school 31 district changing the services the school district provides to 32 the student or the school district’s monitoring or supervision 33 of the student. New Code section 279.77 establishes that these 34 policies shall reinforce the fundamental right of parents and 35 -8- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 8/ 10

S.F. 159 guardians to make decisions related to the upbringing and 1 control of the parent’s or guardian’s children and require 2 employees of the school district to encourage the student 3 to discuss issues relating to the student’s mental health 4 or well-being, emotional health or well-being, physical 5 health or well-being or the learning environment within the 6 school district with the student’s parent or guardian, or 7 facilitate such discussion. New Code section 279.77 provides 8 that, before administering any screening form to a student 9 enrolled in kindergarten through grade eight that is related 10 to the student’s health or well-being, a school district must 11 provide a copy of the screening form to the student’s parent 12 or guardian and obtain the written consent of the parent or 13 guardian to administer the screening form. 14 The bill establishes that the parent or guardian of a student 15 enrolled in a school district who alleges a violation of the 16 bill’s provisions related to the human growth and development 17 instruction, new Code section 279.77, or new Code section 18 279.78 by an employee or contractor of the school district 19 may notify the board of directors of the school district of 20 the potential violation. The bill provides that a board of 21 directors that receives such a notification shall consult 22 with the parent or guardian and, if the board of directors 23 agrees a potential violation may have occurred, remedy the 24 violation within 30 days after receipt of the notification. 25 The bill establishes that, if 30 days or more after providing 26 the notification the parent or guardian reasonably believes 27 that the board of directors has not remedied the potential 28 violation, the parent or guardian may require the state board 29 of education to appoint an administrative law judge to provide 30 a recommendation for a resolution of the dispute or bring a 31 civil action for injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or 32 damages against the school district. The bill provides that 33 if the parent or guardian is the prevailing party in the civil 34 action, the court shall assess a civil penalty against the 35 -9- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 9/ 10

S.F. 159 school district in an amount not less than $10,000 and not 1 more than $50,000. The bill requires each school district 2 to annually provide to the parent or guardian of any student 3 enrolled in the school district with information related to the 4 procedure for resolving potential violations provided in this 5 provision. The bill also requires the state board to adopt 6 rules to administer this provision. 7 -10- LSB 1141XS (7) 90 jda/jh 10/ 10