United States Alaska Alaska California California Oregon Washington State Idaho Nevada Arizona Utah New Mexico Colorado Wyoming Montana North Dakota South Dakota Nebraska Kansas Oklahoma Texas Louisiana Minnesota Iowa Missouri Arkansas Mississippi Alabama Florida Georgia South Carolina North Carolina Tennessee Kentucky Illinois Indiana Ohio West Virginia Virginia Wisconsin Michigan Michigan Maryland Delaware Pennsylvania New Jersey New York Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts Vermont New Hampshire Maine Hawaii District of Columbia

UTAH


Utah Sexuality Education Law and Policy


Utah State Code mandates that the State Board of Education establish curriculum requirements in grades eight through twelve for the prevention of communicable diseases. This instruction must stress “the importance of abstinence from all sexual activity before marriage and fidelity after marriage as methods for preventing certain communicable diseases; and personal skills that encourage individual choice of abstinence and fidelity.”


Among other limitations on what can be taught, the Code states that:


At no time may instruction be provided, including responses to spontaneous questions raised by students, regarding any means or methods that facilitate or encourage the violation of any state or federal criminal law by a minor or adult. In addition, the materials adopted by a local school board must prohibit instruction in: the intricacies of intercourse, sexual stimulation, or erotic behavior; the advocacy of homosexuality; the advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraceptive methods or devices; or the advocacy of sexual activity outside of marriage.


Utah State Code requires that each newly hired or newly assigned educator who teaches or who will be teaching any part of a sexuality education class must attend, on an annual basis, a state-sponsored course that outlines the state designed curriculum and Utah Code regarding the teaching of human sexuality.


The Utah Health Education Core, a suggested curriculum framework produced by the Utah State Office of Education, provides greater detail regarding grade level and topics to be included.


Schools are not required to follow this framework. However, the Utah State Code requires that local school districts have a Curriculum Materials Review Committee. This Committee must make sure that all instructional material complies:


[W]ith state law and state board rules emphasizing abstinence before marriage and fidelity after marriage, and prohibiting instruction in:


  • The intricacies of intercourse, sexual stimulation, or erotic behavior;
  • The advocacy of homosexuality;
  • The advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraceptive methods or devices; or
  • The advocacy of sexual activity outside of marriage.

Curricula must be adopted after “an open and regular” school board meeting in which parents and guardians have an opportunity to testify about the curricula.


Parents or guardians must given written permission in order for a student to participate in any form of sexuality education. This is referred to as an “opt-in” policy.


See Utah State Code 53A-13-101, Utah Administrative Rule R277-474, and the Health Education Core.