279.50 - HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTRUCTION.
279.50 HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTRUCTION.
1. Each school board shall provide instruction in kindergarten
which gives attention to experiences relating to life skills and
human growth and development as required in section 256.11. School
districts shall use research provided in section 256.9, subsection
49, paragraph "b", to evaluate and upgrade their instructional
materials and teaching strategies for human growth and development.
2. Each school board shall provide age-appropriate and
research-based instruction in human growth and development including
instruction regarding human sexuality, self-esteem, stress
management, interpersonal relationships, domestic abuse, HPV and the
availability of a vaccine to prevent HPV, and acquired immune
deficiency syndrome as required in section 256.11, in grades one
through twelve.
3. Each school board shall annually provide to a parent or
guardian of any pupil enrolled in the school district, information
about the human growth and development curriculum used in the pupil's
grade level and the procedure for inspecting the instructional
materials prior to their use in the classroom.
4. Each school district shall, upon request by any agency or
organization, provide information about the human growth and
development curriculum used in each grade level and the procedure for
inspecting and updating the instructional materials.
5. A pupil shall not be required to take instruction in human
growth and development if the pupil's parent or guardian files with
the appropriate principal a written request that the pupil be excused
from the instruction. Notification that the written request may be
made shall be included in the information provided by the school
district.
6. Each school board or community college which offers general
adult education classes or courses shall periodically offer an
instructional program in parenting skills and in human growth and
development for parents, guardians, prospective biological and
adoptive parents, and foster parents.
7. Each area education agency shall periodically offer a staff
development program for teachers who provide instruction in human
growth and development.
8. The department of education shall identify and disseminate
information about early intervention programs for students who are at
the greatest risk of suffering from the problem of dropping out of
school, substance abuse, adolescent pregnancy, or suicide.
9. For purposes of this section and sections 256.9 and 256.11,
unless the context otherwise requires:
a. "Age-appropriate" means topics, messages, and teaching
methods suitable to particular ages or age groups of children and
adolescents, based on developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral
capacity typical for the age or age group.
b. "HIV" means HIV as defined in section 141A.1.
c. "HPV" means human papilloma virus as defined by the
centers for disease control and prevention of the United States
department of health and human services.
d. "Research-based" means all of the following:
(1) Complete information that is verified or supported by the
weight of research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific
methods; recognized as medically accurate and objective by leading
professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise in
the field, such as the American college of obstetricians and
gynecologists, the American public health association, the American
academy of pediatrics, and the national association of school nurses;
and published in peer-reviewed journals where appropriate.
(2) Information that is free of racial, ethnic, sexual
orientation, and gender biases.
10. To the extent not inconsistent with this section and section
256.11, an accredited nonpublic school may also choose curriculum in
accordance with doctrinal teachings for the human sexuality component
of the human growth and development requirements of this section and
section 256.11.
11. Nothing in this section or section 256.11 shall be construed
to prohibit a school or school district from developing and making
available abstinence-based or abstinence-only materials pursuant to
the requirements of section 256.9, subsection 49, and from offering
an abstinence-based or abstinence-only curriculum in meeting the
human sexuality component of the human growth and development
requirements of this section and section 256.11. Section History: Recent Form
88 Acts, ch 1018, §3, 5, 6; 90 Acts, ch 1253, § 121; 91 Acts, ch
218, §19; 2007 Acts, ch 98, §4
Referred to in § 256.11