PETITION OF:

Alice K. Wolf

Edward M. Augustus, Jr.

Patricia A. Haddad

Peter J. Koutoujian

Byron Rushing

Lida E. Harkins

Ruth B. Balser

Rachel Kaprielian

Jay R. Kaufman

Ronald Mariano

Frank I. Smizik

David M. Torrisi

Martin J. Walsh

Carl M. Sciortino, Jr.

Cory Atkins

Cleon H. Turner

Louis L. Kafka

J. James Marzilli, Jr.

Kay Khan

Mary E. Grant

David Paul Linsky

Jennifer L. Flanagan

Matthew C. Patrick

Willie Mae Allen

Martha M. Walz

Christine E. Canavan

Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.

Ellen Story

Pam Richardson

John D. Keenan

Mark V. Falzone

Stephen Kulik

Denise Provost

William N. Brownsberger

Steven J. D'Amico

Douglas W. Petersen

John W. Scibak

Sarah K. Peake

Alice Hanlon Peisch

Barbara A. L'Italien

James B. Eldridge

Denis E. Guyer

Gloria L. Fox

Anne M. Gobi

Michael J. Moran

Rosemary Sandlin

Michael A. Costello

Elizabeth A. Malia

Allen J. McCarthy

Barry R. Finegold

Tom Sannicandro

Michael E. Festa

Kevin G. Honan

Peter V. Kocot

William Smitty Pignatelli

Thomas M. Stanley

Robert Correia

Thomas P. Conroy

Anthony J. Verga

Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera

Benjamin Swan

Stephen L. DiNatale

William Lantigua

Theodore C. Speliotis

Jennifer M. Callahan

Linda Dorcena Forry

Steven M. Walsh

SECTION 1. Section 1D of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “languages”, in line 6, the words:─ , health education.

SECTION 2. Paragraph 3 of said section 1D of said chapter 69, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the fourth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:─ The standards for health education shall be age-appropriate, medically accurate and shall, at minimum, provide for instruction in the following areas: growth and physical development, physical activity and fitness, nutrition, reproduction and sexuality, mental health, family life, interpersonal relationships, disease prevention and control, safety and injury prevention, tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use and abuse prevention, consumer health and resource management, ecological health, and community and public health.

SECTION 3. Paragraph 14 of said section 1I of said chapter 69, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following clause:─ (l) health education.

SECTION 4. The commissioner of education shall submit a report on the provision of health education by school districts to the joint committee on education, the clerk of the house and the clerk of the senate no later than July 1, 2009. The report shall include the following data for each public school in the Commonwealth: health education requirements by grade level; health education curriculum offered by grade level; the number of students who opt-out of any portion of the health education curriculum involving human sexual education or human sexuality issues; and approximate number of hours spent on each of the 14 subject areas listed in Section 2 of this bill by grade level.

SECTION 5. Consistent with the provisions of said section 1E of said chapter 69, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework shall be construed as a guide for local school districts in the development and selection of curriculum, textbooks and instructional materials.

SECTION 6. Consistent with the provisions of section 32A of chapter 71, every city, town, regional school district or vocational school district implementing or maintaining curriculum which primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality issues shall adopt a policy ensuring parental/guardian notification. Such policy shall afford parents or guardians the flexibility to exempt their children from any portion of said curriculum through written notification to the school principal. No child so exempted shall be penalized by reason of such exemption.

SECTION 7. Nothing in this act shall be construed to require an MCAS exam on health education.

SECTION 8. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2008.