- Alaska does not have a statute that requires sexuality or sexually transmitted disease (STD) education.
- Sexuality curricula are not required to include instruction on sexual orientation, gender identity, or consent. There are also no standards regarding abstinence instruction, nor are there regulations around how medically accurate sex ed curricula must be.
- When considering a new sex education curriculum, the curriculum, literature, or material must be approved by the school board and be available for parents to review. Parents or guardians may submit a written request to remove their children from instruction on teen dating violence and abuse. This is referred to as an opt-out policy.
- The Content and Performance Standards for Alaska Students suggests students should be able to comprehend major developments related to class, ethnicity, race, and gender.
Bills to Watch
- SB 157 has been repeatedly introduced, through it continues to be struck down. Such legislation would require sexual health education to be a component of health and personal safety curriculum for K-12 schools.
- SB 43 was introduced in 2023. Such legislation would change health and personal safety education in public schools from “encouraged” to required for grades K-12, and would add sex education as a required component.
- SB 24 was introduced in 2023. Such legislation would encourage all public school districts in the state to create and implement a physical health and personal safety curriculum for students in grades K-12 that includes family health, infant care, mental health, physical health, the identification and prevention of sexual abuse and domestic violence, and appropriate use of health services.
Some Sex Ed Advocates in the State
- The Cook Inlet Tribal Council and their Native Stand curriculum
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 Alaska profile.