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Maryland


Maryland Sexuality Education Law and Policy


Maryland education code requires each local school board to work with the county health department in establishing a school health education program with a number of specified goals. Sexuality education falls under Goal F, which is designed to help students “recognize the family as a basic unit of society that perpetuates life and promotes healthy growth and development.” Under Goal F, schools must help students “develop and use skills for making responsible decisions about sexual behavior based on its consequences for the individual and others” and “develop and use skills for making responsible decisions about family planning and preventing pregnancy.” Goal F also includes teaching students about “[a] variety of family structures and roles of family members,” “male and female roles in American society,” “sexual variations,” “contraception,” and “family planning.”


Maryland education code requires that health education classes be taught in kindergarten through twelfth grade, in mixed gender groups. It also directs when certain topics may and may not be addressed. For example, the code says, “direct teaching of human reproduction may not begin earlier than age 10 or later than age 12.” Regulations also state that an elective sexuality education course must be offered in middle and high schools. This course must be designed with an appointed citizen advisory committee that broadly represents the views of the community and cover a number of topics including contraception, family planning, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).


The code states that teachers of sexuality education classes may have additional preparation for this class and that if a teacher feels “inadequate or uncomfortable” with the class, he/she does not have to teach it. Maryland State Regulations also mandate that “local school systems shall provide annual instruction in AIDS to all students at least once in grades three to six, six to nine, and nine to twelve.” Each local school board determines the actual grade.


Parents or guardians may remove their children from any or all sexuality education classes. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy. The elective courses offered in middle and high schools require parental permission in order for a student to participate, this is known as an “opt-in” policy.


See Maryland Regulations 13A.04.18.02, 13A.04.18.03, and 13A.04.18.04.