BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 329 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 329 (Weber) - As Amended April 13, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Education |Vote:|6 - 1 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill makes instruction in sexual health education a requirement, revises HIV prevention education content, expands topics covered in sexual health education, requires this AB 329 Page 2 instruction to be inclusive of different sexual orientations, and clarifies parental consent policy. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires instruction on sexual health in grades 7-12 occur at least once during junior high school and once during high school (in addition to HIV prevention education). This includes the requirements in existing law for comprehensive sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education, expanded information relative to the prevention and treatment of HIV, and information relative to pregnancy, sexual harassment, sexual assault, adolescent relationship abuse, intimate partner violence, and sex trafficking. 2)Expands, by increasing the topics taught in sexual health education, the number of topics which may be taught to students earlier than grade 7 in an age appropriate and medically accurate manner. 3)Requires outside consultants and guest speakers to have knowledge of the most recent medically accurate research on the relevant topics covered in their instruction. 4)Adds sexual health to the requirements for in-service training for teachers of HIV prevention education. 5)Clarifies that active parental consent ("opt in") policies for sexual health instruction and for research and evaluation tools are prohibited. AB 329 Page 3 FISCAL EFFECT: 1)Minor/absorbable costs to the California Department of Education (CDE). CDE currently maintains and periodically updates a Web page for information and resources on comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education. CDE staff also provide guidance and support to the field on comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education. 2)Unknown Proposition 98/GF state mandated costs for school districts to provided integrated HIV and sexual health instruction. Many districts providing HIV prevention education under current law are using integrated instructional materials. Actual costs would depend on the number of school districts that would have to modify curriculum. For illustration, the American Red Cross program costs $180 for materials for one instructor. These materials include master copies of student material, which district will need to copy for their students. Taking an average of the enrollment in grades seven through twelve, there are approximately 963,430 students in the two grade levels. If one-quarter of those students attend schools that would need to purchase new instructional materials, the statewide cost for duplicating student materials would be approximately $480,000 per year. The Commission on State Mandates (CSM) determined existing law related to HIV/AIDS instruction constituted a reimbursable mandate. The state has also included this mandate in the K-12 Mandate Block Grant. If the CSM determines these requirements impose a higher level of service, this could place pressure on the Legislature to increase funding under the K-12 Mandate Block Grant. AB 329 Page 4 COMMENTS: Purpose. HIV prevention education is currently mandated in California schools. According to the author, current law is outdated and does not address the broader context of HIV prevention. For example, instruction that addresses relationship skills and preventing other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy is fundamental to equipping students to understand and prevent HIV. Most schools teach combined HIV prevention and sexual health education, but the author contends the distinction between them in the Education Code generates confusion by schools that often results in students being denied critical information. This bill seeks to update the HIV and AIDS prevention education to ensure students are receiving comprehensive and accurate prevention information for HIV, other sexually transmitted infections, unintended pregnancy, as well as information about local health resources. This bill also clarifies a parent has a right to excuse their child from all or part of comprehensive sexual education through a passive consent ("opt-out") process and clarifies a school district is prohibited from requiring active parental consent ("opt-in"). Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 329 Page 5