BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 695 (De León) - School curriculum: health education: sexual
harassment and violence instruction
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|Version: April 22, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 4, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill requires school districts that require
completion of a course in health education as a condition of
high school graduation to include instruction in sexual
harassment and violence, and requires the Instructional Quality
Commission (Commission), during the next revision of the health
framework, to consider including a distinct category for grades
9 through 12 on sexual harassment and violence.
Fiscal
Impact:
Commission: To include sexual harassment and violence in the
health framework, the California Department of Education (CDE)
estimates the costs to be about $65,000 General Fund for
contracting with experts, and additional, likely minor costs,
to incorporate the additional content in the next revision of
the health framework.
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Local costs: To the extent school districts require completion
of a health education course to graduate, these school
districts are required to include instruction in sexual
harassment and violence and ensure that teachers consult the
health framework when delivering this instruction, which could
drive significant additional Proposition 98 General Fund
costs. Additional unknown costs will be incurred for the
school district to ensure that teachers consult information
related to sexual harassment and violence in the health
framework when delivering health instruction.
Background: Current law requires the Commission, during the next revision
of the health curricular framework, to consider including a
distinct category on sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention
education that includes content on prevention and reporting
strategies, healthy boundaries for relationships, how to
recognize potentially harmful and abusive relationships, and
refusal skills to overcome peer pressure and to avoid high-risk
activities. (Education Code § 33545)
Current law requires the governing board of California's public
and private postsecondary institutions to adopt a policy
concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence,
and stalking involving a student, both on and off campus. The
policy must include, among other things, an affirmative consent
standard in the determination of whether consent was given by
both parties to sexual activity. "Affirmative consent" is
defined under current law as affirmative, conscious, and
voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. (Education
Code § 67386)
Current law establishes minimum requirements for graduation from
the state's public high schools. Some of these requirements
include passing the California High School Exit Exam and
completing courses in various subject areas for a specified
length of time, such as three years of English and two years of
mathematics. Current law also authorizes school districts to
impose additional coursework requirements as a condition of
graduation from high school. (Education Code § 60851, §
51225.3, and § 51224.5)
Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts and
skills that pupils should learn at each grade level. Curriculum
SB 695 (De León) Page 2 of
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frameworks serve as a blueprint for how to implement the
standards and provide guidance to publishers, along with
evaluation criteria, for the development of instructional
materials. The role of the Commission is to recommend
curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education (SBE);
develop criteria for evaluating instructional materials; study,
evaluate and recommend to the SBE instructional materials for
adoption; and make recommendations to the SBE regarding the use
of frameworks and model curriculum, and alignment with the
academic content standards.
Proposed Law: This bill requires that when the health curriculum
framework is next revised, the Commission consider including a
distinct category for grades 9 through 12 on sexual harassment
and violence that includes various components, including: (1)
information on different forms of sexual harassment and
violence, preventative strategies, reporting strategies for
students, and resources students can access; (2) the affirmative
consent standard and skills students can use to set boundaries
in relationships; and (3) legal aspects under state and federal
law. If the Commission includes this category in the framework,
this bill requires the Commission to ensure that the information
included in the framework is research-based and appropriate for
students of all races, genders, sexual orientations, gender
identities, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
In addition, if a school district requires a course in health
education for graduation, the school district must include
instruction in sexual harassment and violence, including
information on the affirmative consent standard. Finally, the
school district must ensure teachers consult information related
to sexual harassment and violence in the health framework when
delivering health instruction.
Related
Legislation:1. SB 592 (Leyva) requires, among other things, school districts to
provide educational programs that promote healthy relationships
and prevent adolescent relationship abuse to students in grades
6 through 12 and requires CDE to provide information for use by
schools. SB 592 is pending in this committee.
AB 1857 (Fong, 2012), AB 1880 (Lara, 2012), and AB 1373 (Fong, 2011)
all relate to either providing education programs to promote
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healthy relationships and to prevent teen dating violence or
including related information in school safety plans. These
bills were held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff Comments: This bill requires school districts that require
completion of a course in health education as a condition of
high school graduation to include instruction in sexual
harassment and violence, as specified. Because completion of a
health education course is not a state requirement for
graduation, additional costs at the local level imposed by this
bill would not be reimbursable under state mandate law.
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