- Florida Statute 48-1003.42 requires public schools to teach comprehensive health education that includes giving students “an awareness of the benefits of sexual abstinence as the expected standard and the consequences of teenage pregnancy.”
- The curriculum must also teach prevention of child sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking but is not required to include instruction on consent.
- There are no regulations requiring sex education to be medically accurate.
- If a school chooses to teach further instruction on HIV/AIDS, instruction must emphasize the benefits of heterosexual marriage and must be age and developmentally appropriate.
- State policy reads that “course descriptions for comprehensive health education shall not interfere with the local determination of appropriate curriculum, which reflects local values and concerns.”
- HB 545 was enacted in June 2021, requiring that all sex education instructional materials be approved on an annual basis by the district school board in an open notice public meeting.
- Senate Bill 1834/House Bill 1557, also known as Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, was signed into law on March 28th, 2022. This law prohibits classroom discussion on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
- HB 1069 was enacted in 2023. This bill bans any classroom discussion or instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity before 8th grade, prohibits school staff from using the correct pronouns of a student in accordance with their gender identity, allows for policies that censor books in school libraries, and requires all reproductive health education material to be department-approved.
- Since enacting HB 519, K-12 health education must be age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate, and include instruction on the prevention of child sexual abuse.
- Parents may submit a written request to the school principal to exempt their child from sex ed. This is referred to as an opt-out policy.
- Florida standards can be found at Sunshine State Standards for Health Education. Florida also maintains a detailed database of health education standards online and provides further guidance on curricula and instruction.
Some Sex Ed Advocates Within the State
For more detailed information on how various districts in the state have been implementing these standards — and for recent legislation — you can read SIECUS’s Florida profile.