- Delaware Administrative Code title 14, § 851 requires sexuality education as part of health education for kindergarten through 12th grade. Sex ed must be coordinated by an employee in each school district and overseen by a District Consolidated Application Planning Committee. The committee must consist of teachers, parents, school nurses, community leaders, law enforcement, and other community members “with expertise in the areas of health; family life; and safe and drug-free schools and communities.”
- Sex education is not required to be medically accurate.
- Sex ed curricula are required to include lessons on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Sex ed curricula are not required to include lessons not on consent, aside from age-appropriate and evidence-informed instruction on consent and personal boundaries for students in grades 7-12.
- Sex ed must include an HIV prevention program “that stresses the benefits of abstinence from high-risk behaviors.”
- Delaware statute does not require parental permission for students to participate in sexuality or HIV/AIDS education.
- Sex-ed courses must follow the Department of Education’s standards and the Delaware Health Education Curriculum, and the courses must include instruction on decision-making skills and the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors.
- The Department of Education also provides model curricula online.
Some Sex Ed Advocates Within the State
- Planned Parenthood of Delaware
- Children and Families First: Adolescent Resource Center
- AIDS Delaware
- Delaware Division of Public Health
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 Delaware profile.