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Anti-abortion
Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC's)
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Colorado State Law
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"The State of Colorado has no law requiring
schools to provide sexuality education. Instead, Colorado
law encourages schools to establish comprehensive health education
programs including human growth and development, family life
and sex education, and HIV/AIDS education."
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| The State of Colorado
has no law requiring schools to provide sexuality
education. Instead, Colorado law encourages schools
to establish comprehensive health education programs
including human growth and development, family life
and sex education, and HIV/AIDS education. However,
the law does require a school district that uses
state funds through the comprehensive health education
grant program to provide sexuality education, to
provide curriculum and materials used which "shall
include values and responsibility and shall give
primary emphasis to abstinence by school aged children."
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| Article 25 of the Colorado
Revised Statues titled Colorado Comprehensive Health
Education Act contains a legislative declaration:
"The general assembly hereby finds and declares
that comprehensive health education is an essential
element of public education in the state of Colorado.
The school system is a logical vehicle for conveying
to children and parents significant health information,
developing an awareness of the value of good health
to the individual and to the community, promoting
healthy behavior and positive self-concepts, and
providing means for dealing with peer and other
pressures. It is further declared that many serious
health problems in Colorado, including high-risk
behaviors, are directly attributable to the insufficient
health |
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| knowledge and motivation
of the school-age population and the general public
and that studies have demonstrated the effectiveness
of a planned school curriculum throughout the elementary
and secondary grades in developing healthy behavior.
The purpose of this article is to foster healthy
behaviors in our children and communities through
a comprehensive educational plan, which has as its
goal not only the increase of health knowledge but
also the modification of high-risk behaviors." |
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Article 25 defines Comprehensive
health education: "means a planned, sequential health
program of learning experiences in preschool, kindergarten,
and grades one through twelve which shall include,
but shall not be limited to the following topics:
• Communicable disease, including, but not
limited to, acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) related
illness.
• Tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use.
• High-risk behaviors and concerns: means actions
by children and adolescents which present a danger
to their physical or mental health or which may
impede their ability to lead healthy and productive
lives.includes, but is not limited to dropping out
of school, incest, and other sexual activity with
adults, sexual activity by school aged children."
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Article 25 in the Colorado State Statutes
says
"A school district's health education program shall include
factual information regarding HIV infection and how the virus
is transmitted."
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| Article 25 defines Local
Comprehensive Health Education Program: "means a
health education program instituted by a school
board or board of cooperative service in accordance
with the requirements of this article." |
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| Further, Colorado school
districts that have a comprehensive health curriculum
are required by law to adopt a policy regarding
the teaching of Family Life/Sex Education. Specifics
of the policy are not set forth in the law except
for these exceptions. Instructional materials shall
be available for inspection by the public during
school hours. A public forum shall be scheduled
to receive public comments. |
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| Second, Parents/guardians
of all students shall be notified that such
courses have been scheduled and that they may request
that their child be exempt from a specific portion
of the program on the grounds that it is contrary
to their religious beliefs. While Colorado law specifies
a religious exemption, school boards may include
additional reasons |
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| as a matter of policy.
There shall also be an exemption procedure
in place by which an alternate educational assignment
shall be arranged. And finally, teachers
who provide instruction in Family Life/Sex Education
shall have professional preparation in the
subject area, either at the pre-service or in-service
level. |
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| Regarding HIV/AIDS
education, school districts are not required
by law to adopt a policy on this subject, but there
are some legal requirements school districts must
follow. |
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| A school district's health
education program shall include factual
information regarding HIV infection and how the
virus is transmitted. Students shall
be told what voluntary behaviors put them at risk
of infection and also students shall be motivated
to prevent infection by making wise decisions in
their daily lives. Such instruction shall
be developmentally appropriate to the grade level
of the students and shall occur in a systematic
manner. |
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| Further, teachers presenting
this material shall receive continuing in-service
training, which includes appropriate teaching strategies
and techniques. Other school staff members not involved
in direct instruction but who have contact with
students shall receive basic information
about HIV/AIDS and instruction in the use of universal
precautions when dealing with body fluids. |
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| School faculty, parents,
community members including physicians, and students
as appropriate shall be involved in the development
of HIV education and parents/guardians shall
have an opportunity to review the HIV education
program before it is presented to students. Also,
parents/guardians of all students shall be
notified when HIV/AIDS instruction is scheduled
so they may request that their child be exempt on
the grounds that it is contrary to their religious
beliefs or any other exemption for which individual
school district policy provides for. |
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