Opt-out sex ed bill moves through Assembly; fifth attempt in the last 10 years

By Hillary Davis (contact)

Sunday, April 23, 2023 | 2 a.m.

A bill to reform sex education in the state’s public schools and make it easier to access is moving through the Nevada Legislature.

Assembly Bill 357 is the fifth attempt in 10 years to make lessons on sexuality and puberty more inclusive and standardized. One of the biggest changes in the proposed legislation would make lessons opt-out.

Nevada is one of only a handful of states that has an opt-in provision, which only allows students to take sex ed if their parents grant permission.

“A lot of discussions have changed. I think we’ve evolved in a lot of ways. I think we all know that kids are getting information right on their phones. There’s no lack of information out there,” Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, the bill’s main sponsor, said at an April 11 hearing of the Assembly Education Committee. “We want to make sure that kids have evidence and factually based information because otherwise they’re getting information that is incorrect.”

The bill made its way to the Assembly floor but last week was sent back to the education committee.

Bilbray-Axelrod, D-Las Vegas, submitted an identical bill in 2019, but it did not get a hearing. A similar sex ed bill made it through the Assembly and Senate in 2017, but was vetoed by Republican then-Gov. Brian Sandoval. A 2013 bill didn’t make it out of the Assembly.

Assemblywoman Claire Thomas, D-North Las Vegas, said that when she was growing up, talking about sex in her home “could get you backhanded.” Yet, as the eldest of five children, she taught her younger sisters about menstruation because her mother didn’t discuss that, either.

Thomas, 69, said she drew on what she learned in school. She graduated from high school in the Queens borough of New York,

“I feel sometimes when I read these emails (from opponents), are we going backwards?” she said. “I think that it’s necessary for us to go forward and speak of this in a clinical way. It is not dirty when we talk about our bodies.”

The Nevada Public Health Association and Nevada Academy of Pediatrics, among other organizations, back the bill.

“Without sex education our students do not understand how their body is changing, how to protect themselves, or how to name harmful acts,” said Serena Evans with the Nevada Coaltion to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.

People who spoke against the bill said that the state, not local boards, would be making decisions on what could be taught in sex ed. Opponents had the same thoughts on a similar bill in the Senate, which includes most of the same provisions as the Assembly bill, minus the opt-in change, as part of a broader bill on communicable diseases.

Janine Hansen, president of Nevada Families for Freedom, called AB 357“anti-family, anti-parent and anti-democratic” and said going to opt-out undermines parental involvement. Erin Phillips of Power2Parent said the state’s power to decide sex ed standards deprived “parents and communities of local control.”

But the state already generally outlines course content. The Nevada Department of Education writes academic standards, which the department defines as the concepts, content, and skills students should master by the end of a certain grade or subject. Curriculum, which is determined locally, includes the materials and resources used for teaching the standards.

For middle and high school students, sex education is generally a unit in health class. Elementary school students may learn about sexual development from the school nurse or a designated teacher.

In CCSD and other Nevada districts, district staff propose curricula to a district-appointed board that can give first approvals. The School Board gives final approvals. AB 357 does not change this system.

In March, the CCSD School Board approved updates to the district’s guidebook for how to teach about puberty and sex, introducing broad anatomical topics and principles of reproduction in third and fourth grade. The guidebook mirrors recently revised state standards.

The district last revised the Sex Education Operational Guide for K-12 Curriculum Development in 2016; at that time, fifth grade was the lowest grade in the manual.

“Since that time, there have been changes to state law regarding sex education as well as updates to district regulations and policies in compliance with Nevada Revised Statutes,” the district said in a statement. “The recent revisions were made to reflect the revised state law and district policies.”

In third grade, students identify the functions of body parts, including the urinary bladder and urethra, using correct anatomical terms. By fourth grade, they learn about the ovaries, uterus, Fallopian tubes, vagina, penis, testicles and scrotum. Students also “develop an understanding that all living things (bacteria, mammals, plants, cells, etc.) reproduce,” according to the guide.

In fifth grade, pupils learn that puberty happens at different times for individuals, and that the changes prepare their body for potential reproduction. Eighth-graders define abstinence, contraception and sexual assault.

In high school, students describe reproductive processes from the development of sperm to the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. High schoolers can also identify state and federal laws regarding pregnancy, parenting, adoption and abortion.

A CCSD representative told lawmakers that the district had taken a neutral position on AB357 overall, but supported the opt-out provision.

According to the nonprofit Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, or SIECUS, only Arizona, Utah, Mississippi and North Carolina require permission slips to receive sex ed lessons. State law requires Nevada public schools to offer sex education, but it is not a requirement for graduation.

Bilbray-Axelrod says not every child is the same, and parents know what’s right for their kids, so “if you don’t think this is appropriate, by god, opt them out.

“But those other kids who aren’t lucky enough to have a parent who is active in their life every day, let’s give them every chance we can.”