CSHB 320(HES): "An Act relating to public school health personal safety education."
00CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 320(HES) 01 "An Act relating to public school health personal safety education." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be known as the "Healthy Students Act." 04 * Sec. 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to foster the development and 05 dissemination of educational activities and materials that will assist students, teachers, 06 administrators, and parents in the perception, appreciation, and understanding of health 07 principles and problems, and adoption of responsible behavior. 08 * Sec. 3. AS 14.08.115 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 09 (c) A regional school board shall establish a health education curriculum 10 advisory committee in the regional educational attendance area, and by regulation shall 11 prescribe its manner of selection and organization. Members of the advisory 12 committee required under this subsection may include residents of the district with 13 expertise in public safety, mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, and public health. 14 A meeting of a health education curriculum advisory committee may be
01 teleconferenced. A health education curriculum advisory committee shall advise the 02 regional school board on the health education curriculum at schools in the regional 03 educational attendance area. 04 * Sec. 4. AS 14.12.035 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 14.12.035. ADVISORY SCHOOL BOARDS AND COMMITTEES IN 06 BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICTS. A borough school district board shall establish 07 a health education curriculum advisory committee and may establish other 08 advisory school boards or committees, and by regulation shall prescribe their manner 09 of selection, organization, powers, and duties. Members of the health education 10 curriculum advisory committee may include residents of the district with expertise 11 in public safety, mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, and public health. A 12 health education curriculum advisory committee meeting may be teleconferenced. 13 * Sec. 5. AS 14.30.360 is repealed and reenacted to read: 14 Sec. 14.30.360. CURRICULUM. (a) A school district shall conduct a 15 program in health education that includes instruction in human immunodeficiency virus 16 and acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Instruction under this subsection must be 17 appropriate to the child's age and emphasize appropriate behavior. 18 (b) A district in the state public school system shall be encouraged to initiate 19 and conduct a program in comprehensive health education for kindergarten through 20 grade 12. The program should be appropriate to the child's age, emphasize appropriate 21 behavior, and contain instruction in physical health and personal safety including 22 (1) alcohol, tobacco, and substance abuse and fetal alcohol syndrome 23 education; 24 (2) first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); 25 (3) human growth and development, including reproductive health, 26 pregnancy prevention, prevention and control of diseases, including sexually 27 transmitted diseases; 28 (4) mental and emotional health, including suicide prevention; 29 (5) cancer prevention and early detection, nutrition, dental health, 30 family health, and environmental health; 31 (6) the identification and prevention of child abuse, child abduction,
01 neglect, and sexual abuse, and domestic violence; and 02 (7) appropriate use of health services. 03 (c) A program under (a) or (b) of this section 04 (1) may include training, support groups, and pertinent literature 05 designed to assist parents and other members of the community in the use of available 06 community resources, and in participating in health and personal safety education; and 07 (2) must include a method of notifying parents of students of the con- 08 tent of instructional materials used in a program described under (a) or (b)(3) of this 09 section and of the parents' option to exempt their child from the instruction; a district 10 shall use procedures to provide that students exempted from the program are not 11 embarrassed by the exemption. 12 (d) The state board shall establish guidelines for a comprehensive health and 13 personal safety education program. Personal safety guidelines shall be developed in 14 consultation with the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Upon 15 request, the Department of Education, the Department of Public Safety, the Department 16 of Health and Social Services, and the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual 17 Assault shall provide technical assistance to school districts in the development of 18 personal safety curricula. A school health and personal safety education specialist 19 position shall be established and funded in the department to coordinate the program 20 statewide. Adequate funds to enable curriculum and resource development, adequate 21 consultation to school districts, and a program of teacher training in health and 22 personal safety education shall be provided. 23 * Sec. 6. AS 14.30.360 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 24 (c) In this section, 25 (1) "family health" includes 26 (A) an understanding of the physical, mental, emotional, social, 27 economic, and psychological aspects of close personal relationships and an 28 understanding of the physiological, psychological, and cultural foundations of 29 human development; 30 (B) the development of responsible personal values and 31 behavior and the establishing of a strong family life for students in the future,
01 with emphasis on the responsibilities of parenting; 02 (C) knowledge of the law relating to the sexual conduct of 03 minors and sexual abuse of minors, including criminal sexual conduct; 04 (2) "health and personal safety education" includes health education in 05 a school setting that is planned and carried out with the purpose of maintaining, 06 reinforcing, or enhancing the health, health-related skills, and health attitudes and 07 practices of children and youth that are conducive to their good health and that 08 promote wellness, health maintenance, and disease prevention; it includes age-appropriate, sequential instruction in 09 health either as part of an existing course or as 10 a special course; 11 (3) "pregnancy prevention" includes 12 (A) abstaining from sexual activity until marriage; 13 (B) skills to enable students to resist peer pressure and abstain 14 from sexual activity; 15 (C) methods of contraception, and the risks and benefits of each 16 method; 17 (4) "reproductive health" includes human physiology, conception, 18 prenatal care and development, fetal alcohol syndrome, childbirth, and postnatal care. 19 * Sec. 7. TRANSITION. A city or borough school district or a regional educational 20 attendance area should begin development of a health education curriculum described in this 21 Act by July 1, 1994, and shall have in place a program of health education regarding human 22 immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome that is appropriate to a 23 child's age and that emphasizes appropriate behavior as required by this Act by August 1, 24 1996.