AB 919

This bill requires schools to provide teen dating violence prevention education

and establishes certain criteria governing the instruction provided. The bill requires

the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to incorporate teen dating violence and

sexual violence curriculum into its model health curriculum. Specifically, the bill:

1. Requires each school district to, beginning in the 2016-17 school year,

provide teen dating violence prevention education, consisting of age-appropriate

instruction, as part of the health education program it provides to pupils in grades

7 to 12.

2. Requires the school district to include instruction and materials regarding

teen dating violence and sexual violence that include methods for doing all of the

following:

a) Recognizing what constitutes a healthy relationship.

b) Identifying teen dating violence, abusive behavior, physical intimidation,

stalking, physical abuse, inappropriate sexual behavior, sexual harassment, sexual

violence, sexual assault, and Internet abuse and cyberbullying.

c) Locating sources for legal, medical, mental health, and other supportive

services regarding teen dating violence.

3. Requires the instructional program offered by the school district to satisfy

certain criteria. The information must be medically accurate and objective, age

appropriate, and available to English learners, encourage communication with

parents, and teach respect for marriage and committed relationships.

4. Requires each school district to notify the parent or guardian of each pupil

about instruction planned for the coming year. The notice must inform the parent

or guardian of all of the following:

a) That educational materials are available for inspection.

b) Whether the prevention education will be taught by school personnel or by

outside consultants. If the instruction is by consultants, the notice must specify the

date of instruction, name of the organization of each speaker, and a statement of the

right of parents to request a copy of the statute.

c) An explanation of the right to request a copy of the statute.

d) That the parent may request in writing that his or her child not participate

in teen dating violence prevention education.

e) That upon written request to the school principal, a parent must be allowed

to examine the instructional materials at the school in which the child is enrolled.

5. Authorizes anonymous, voluntary, and confidential research and evaluation

tools to measure pupils' health behaviors and risks, including questionnaires and

surveys containing age-appropriate questions about the pupil's attitudes concerning

teen dating violence to be administered to any pupil in grades 7 to 12. The

questionnaire or survey may be given only if the parent is first notified in writing that

it is going to be administered and the pupil's parent is given the opportunity to review