Idaho House ed committee puts hold on sex ed bill

BOISE — Following a lengthy meeting, the House Education Committee decided to hold for one day a bill that would make sex education in public schools opt-in rather than opt-out. The committee will take it back up this morning.

Three parents testified that they did not know the content of what was being taught in their children’s sex education classes and would not have consented had they known.

Rep. Elaine Price, R-Coeur d’Alene, sponsored HB 272, which would require parental permission for their students to receive K-12 sex education; the bill includes a civil penalty — which was a concern for some committee members.

It would also require that the classroom curriculum for sex education be made available to parents and guardians, and if the instruction is given by a third party, that their qualifications be included on the permission form. If these requirements weren’t followed by school districts, parents and guardians of children could sue the school employees.

“It has been mentioned quite often that parents are in charge of their children, and to me, this bill is just reinforcing that,” Price said.

Amy Henry of Nampa said she authored the bill, and it originated out of concerns in her district over lack of access to the sex education curriculum being taught.

“My daughter as a sixth-grader came home and schooled me on things from her sex ed class that I did not need to know, and I’m almost 50 and I still don’t need to know those things,” Henry said.

Another Nampa parent who favored the bill, Chaleena Dean, said her child started sex ed classes before she received the opt-out form.

Madeline Patterson, a Boise State University student and “product of Boise School District,” spoke in opposition to the bill. She said she’s thankful for the sex education that she received and was concerned many students would miss out on it because they forgot their forms or their parents weren’t engaged or around to sign it.

Nora Morse of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates in Idaho said that sex ed has been shown to reduce rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies. She said students could be denied this education because of a lost or forgotten permission slip.

She said moving to an opt-in system “would erect harmful and unnecessary barriers for Idaho parents and students who want and need access to sex education.”

Rep. Soñia Galaviz, D-Boise, who is a teacher, said she had concerns about the low return rate she’s seen on permission slips and how that would affect teachers’ ability to teach required health curriculum regarding puberty in fifth grade.

“It just doesn’t seem sustainable to be able to have an opt-in for everyone,” Galaviz said. “Could we have a better way to have that buy-in and not be waiting on multiple permission slips throughout the year?”

Others, including Reps. Greg Lanting, R-Twin Falls, and Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, were particularly concerned about the civil action included in the bill.

“There is recourse under Idaho law already,” McCann said.

Henry said she strongly felt the civil action should be left in the legislation because she and other parents who are frustrated don’t feel that they currently have any recourse against school districts.

Rep. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, agreed that the civil action should be left in.

“It’s hard to sue the government,” Clow said.

As the committee’s discussion started to creep closer to the House’s floor session time, Rep. Jack Nelsen, R-Jerome, made a motion to hold the bill for another day to avoid rushing it through.

The majority of committee members agreed, and the bill was tabled until Thursday morning.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.