- 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 ed must include an HIV prevention program “that stresses the benefits of abstinence from high-risk behaviors.”
- Delaware administrative code sets a minimum number of hours for comprehensive health education and family life education. In kindergarten through fourth grade, the minimum is set at 30 hours per grade, 10 of which must be dedicated to drug and alcohol education. In grades five and six, the minimum is set at 35 hours per grade, 15 of which must be dedicated to drug and alcohol education. In grades seven and eight, the minimum is set at 60 hours per grade, 15 of which must be dedicated to drug and alcohol education.
- In order to graduate high school, students must receive 0.5 credits in comprehensive health education.
- 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.