S*546 Session 107 (1987-1988)
S*0546(Rat #0479, Act #0437 of 1988) General Bill, By N.W. Smith,
T.E. Garrison, Giese, J.C. Hayes, Leatherman, Matthews and J.M. Waddell
Similar(H 2734)
A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Chapter 32
to Title 59 so as to provide for the establishment of a Comprehensive Health
Education Program in elementary and secondary schools through appropriate
program development, adequate teacher training, required hours of health
instruction, an exemption for student participation, an exception for private
schools to the application of the Chapter, and penalties; and to provide for
the continuation of existing health education programs and reimbursement of
tuition.-amended title
03/19/87 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-979
03/19/87 Senate Referred to Committee on Education SJ-979
05/07/87 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Education SJ-1748
01/13/88 Senate Special order SJ-25
01/27/88 Senate Debate interrupted SJ-40
01/28/88 Senate Debate interrupted SJ-54
02/02/88 Senate Debate interrupted SJ-41
02/03/88 Senate Amended SJ-31
02/03/88 Senate Read second time SJ-43
02/03/88 Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of
amendments SJ-43
02/04/88 Senate Amended SJ-47
02/04/88 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-49
02/09/88 House Introduced, read first time, placed on calendar
without reference HJ-992
02/11/88 House Debate adjourned until Wednesday, February 17,
1988 HJ-1128
02/11/88 House Special order, set for Wed 2/17/88 follow call of
uncontest cal (Under H 3760) HJ-1134
02/17/88 House Amended HJ-1245
02/17/88 House Debate interrupted HJ-1254
02/18/88 House Amended HJ-1273
02/18/88 House Read second time HJ-1328
02/18/88 House Roll call Yeas-092 Nays-016 HJ-1328
02/23/88 House Read third time HJ-1401
02/23/88 House Returned HJ-1401
02/24/88 Senate Non-concurrence in House amendment SJ-28
02/25/88 House House insists upon amendment and conference
committee appointed Reps. Fair, Townsend &
Keyserling HJ-1496
03/01/88 Senate Conference committee appointed Senators N.W.
Smith, Giese and Hayes SJ-6
03/30/88 House Conference report received HJ-2409
03/30/88 House Recommitted to conference committee HJ-2423
04/06/88 House Conference report received HJ-2531
04/06/88 House Conference report adopted HJ-2538
04/06/88 Senate Conference report received SJ-115
04/06/88 Senate Conference report adopted SJ-122
04/06/88 Senate Ordered enrolled for ratification SJ-122
04/12/88 Ratified R 479
04/18/88 Signed By Governor
04/18/88 Effective date 04/18/88
04/18/88 Act No. 437
04/25/88 Copies available
(A437, R479, S546)
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 32
TO TITLE 59 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH
EDUCATION PROGRAM IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS THROUGH APPROPRIATE PROGRAM
DEVELOPMENT, ADEQUATE TEACHER TRAINING, REQUIRED HOURS OF HEALTH INSTRUCTION, AN
EXEMPTION FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION, AN EXCEPTION FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO THE
APPLICATION OF THE CHAPTER, AND PENALTIES; AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONTINUATION
OF EXISTING HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND REIMBURSEMENT OF TUITION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Comprehensive Health Education Act
SECTION 1. This may be cited as the "Comprehensive Health Education
Act".
Purpose
SECTION 2. The purpose of this act is to foster the development and
dissemination of educational activities and materials which will assist South
Carolina students, teachers, administrators, and parents in the perception,
appreciation, and understanding of health principles and problems and responsible
sexual behavior.
Comprehensive Health Education Program established
SECTION 3. Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"CHAPTER 32
Comprehensive Health Education Program
Section 59-32-10. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'Comprehensive health education' means health education in a school
setting that is planned and carried out with the purpose of maintaining,
reinforcing, or enhancing the health, health-related skills, and health attitudes
and practices of children and youth that are conducive to their good health and
that promote wellness, health maintenance, and disease prevention. It includes
age-appropriate, sequential instruction in health either as part of existing
courses or as a special course.
(2) 'Reproductive health education' means instruction in human physiology,
conception, prenatal care and development, childbirth, and postnatal care, but
does not include instruction concerning sexual practices outside marriage or
practices unrelated to reproduction except within the context of the risk of
disease. Abstinence and the risks associated with sexual activity outside of
marriage must be strongly emphasized.
(3) 'Family life education' means instruction intended to:
(a) develop an understanding of the physical, mental, emotional, social,
economic, and psychological aspects of close personal relationships and an
understanding of the physiological, psychological, and cultural foundations of
human development;
(b) provide instruction that will support the development of responsible
personal values and behavior and aid in establishing a strong family life for
themselves in the future and emphasize the responsibilities of marriage.
(c) provide instruction as to the laws of this State relating to the sexual
conduct of minors, including criminal sexual conduct.
(4) 'Pregnancy prevention education' means instruction intended to:
(a) stress the importance of abstaining from sexual activity until marriage;
(b) help students develop skills to enable them to resist peer pressure and
abstain from sexual activity;
(c) explain methods of contraception, and the risks and benefits of each
method. Abortion must not be included as a method of birth control. Instruction
explaining the methods of contraception must not be included in any education
program for grades kindergarten through fifth. Contraceptive information must
be given in the context of future family planning.
(5) 'Local school board' means the governing board of public school districts
as well as those of other state-supported institutions which provide educational
services to students at the elementary and secondary school level. For purposes
of this chapter, programs or services provided by the Department of Health and
Environmental Control in educational settings must be approved by the local
school board.
(6) 'Board' means the State Board of Education.
(7) 'Department' means the State Department of Education.
Section 59-32-20. Before August 1, 1988, the board, through the department,
shall select or develop an instructional unit with separate components addressing
the subjects of reproductive health education, family life education, pregnancy
prevention education, and sexually transmitted diseases and make the
instructional unit available to local school districts. The board, through the
department, also shall make available information about other programs developed
by other states upon request of a local school district.
Section 59-32-30. (A) Pursuant to guidelines developed by the board, each
local school board shall implement the following program of instruction:
(1) Beginning with the 1988-89 school year, for grades kindergarten through
five, instruction in comprehensive health education must include the following
subjects: community health, consumer health, environmental health, growth and
development, nutritional health, personal health, prevention and control of
diseases and disorders, safety and accident prevention, substance use and abuse,
dental health, and mental and emotional health. Sexually transmitted diseases as
defined in the annual Department of Health and Environmental Control List of
Reportable Diseases are to be excluded from instruction on the prevention and
control of diseases and disorders. At the discretion of the local board,
age-appropriate instruction in reproductive health may be included.
(2) Beginning with the 1988-89 school year, for grades six through eight,
instruction in comprehensive health must include the following subjects:
community health, consumer health, environmental health, growth and development,
nutritional health, personal health, prevention and control of diseases and
disorders, safety and accident prevention, substance use and abuse, dental
health, mental and emotional health, and reproductive health education. Sexually
transmitted diseases are to be included as a part of instruction. At the
discretion of the local board, instruction in family life education or pregnancy
prevention education or both may be included, but instruction in these subjects
may not include an explanation of the methods of contraception before the sixth
grade.
(3) Beginning with the 1989-90 school year, at least one time during the
four years of grades nine through twelve, each student shall receive instruction
in comprehensive health education, including at least seven hundred fifty minutes
of reproductive health education and pregnancy prevention education.
(4) The South Carolina Educational Television Commission shall work with the
department in developing instructional programs and materials that may be
available to the school districts. Films and other materials may be designed for
the purpose of explaining bodily functions or the human reproductive process.
These materials may not contain actual or simulated portrayals of sexual
activities or sexual intercourse.
(5) The program of instruction provided for in this section may not include
a discussion of alternate sexual lifestyles from heterosexual relationships
including, but not limited to, homosexual relationships except in the context of
instruction concerning sexually transmitted diseases.
(6) In grades nine through twelve, students must also be given appropriate
instruction that adoption is a positive alternative.
(B) Local school boards may use the instructional unit made available by the
board pursuant to Section 59-32-20, or local boards may develop or select their
own instructional materials addressing the subjects of reproductive health
education, family life education, and pregnancy prevention education. To assist
in the selection of components and curriculum materials, each local school board
shall appoint a thirteen-member local advisory committee consisting of two
parents, three clergy, two health professionals, two teachers, two students, one
being the president of the student body of a high school, and two other persons
not employed by the local school district.
(C) The time required for health instruction for students in kindergarten
through eighth grade must not be reduced below the level required during the
1986-87 school year. Health instruction for students in grades nine through
twelve may be given either as part of an existing course or as a special course.
(D) No contraceptive device or contraceptive medication may be distributed in
or on the school grounds of any public elementary or secondary school. No school
district may contract with any contraceptive provider for their distribution in
or on the school grounds. Except as to that instruction provided by this chapter
relating to complications which may develop from all types of abortions, school
districts may not offer programs, instruction, or activities including abortion
counseling, information about abortion services, or assist in obtaining abortion
and materials containing this information must not be distributed in schools.
Nothing in this section prevents school authorities from referring students to
a physician for medical reasons after making reasonable efforts to notify the
student's parents or legal guardians or the appropriate court, if applicable.
(E) Any course or instruction in sexually transmitted diseases must be taught
within the reproductive health, family life, or pregnancy prevention education
components, or it must be presented as a separate component.
(F) Instruction in pregnancy prevention education must be presented separately
to male and female students.
Section 59-32-40. As part of their program for staff development, the
department and local school boards shall provide appropriate staff development
activities for educational personnel participating in the comprehensive health
education program. Local school boards are encouraged to coordinate the
activities with the department and institutions of higher learning.
Section 59-32-50. Pursuant to policies and guidelines adopted by the local
school board, public school principals shall develop a method of notifying
parents of students in the relevant grades of the content of the instructional
materials concerning reproductive health, family life, pregnancy prevention, and
of their option to exempt their child from this instruction, and sexually
transmitted diseases if instruction in the diseases is presented as a separate
component. Notice must be provided sufficiently in advance of a student's
enrollment in courses using these instructional materials to allow parents and
legal guardians the opportunity to preview the materials and exempt their
children.
A public school principal, upon receipt of a statement signed by a student's
parent or legal guardian stating that participation by the student in the health
education program conflicts with the family's beliefs, shall exempt that student
from any portion or all of the units on reproductive health, family life, and
pregnancy prevention where any conflicts occur. No student must be penalized as
a result of an exemption. School districts shall use procedures to ensure that
students exempted from the program by their parents or guardians are not
embarrassed by the exemption.
Section 59-32-60. The department shall assure district compliance with this
chapter. Each local school board shall consider the programs addressed in this
chapter in developing its annual district report.
Section 59-32-70. The provisions of this chapter do not apply to private
schools.
Section 59-32-80. Any teacher violating the provisions of this chapter or who
refuses to comply with the curriculum prescribed by the school board as provided
by this chapter is subject to dismissal.
Section 59-32-90. Films, pictures, or diagrams in any comprehensive health
education program in public schools must be designed solely for the purpose of
explaining bodily functions or the human reproduction process and may not include
actual or simulated portrayals of sexual activities or sexual intercourse."
Existing programs
SECTION 4. School districts which provide comprehensive health education
programs on the effective date of this act may continue their existing programs
while implementing the provisions of Chapter 32 of Title 59 of the Code of Laws
of South Carolina, 1976.
Reimbursement of tuition
SECTION 5. For school years 1988-89 and 1989-90, school district and state
agency school employees required by the State Board of Education to hold State
Board of Education certification shall receive first priority for reimbursement
of tuition from the funds allocated for the program established by Section
59-21-150 of the 1976 Code for completion of a three-hour course determined by
the board to be a course in comprehensive health education.
Time effective
SECTION 6. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. |