About SB 673
#1) SB 673 provides increased parental oversight & supervision for sexuality education (TK-6th grade) curriculum by requiring districts to place content and material online for ease of parent review. Many parents have reported difficulties in accessing curriculum for review and since it usually requires several hours to review all materials, it is inconvenient for both parents and school districts. This is especially important for single working mothers who may not be able to take time off work to review curriculum at district offices. Requiring districts to make curriculum available online would save time for both parents and school district employees, while insuring transparency.
#2) SB 673 provides increased parental oversight, for TK-6th grade, which must include an “active opt-in," with a parent signature for student participation. This protection is important for our youngest, most vulnerable children who require parental supervision due to the complexities of the content and materials. There have been several reports throughout California, of children who have accidentally received this instruction against their parents' written directives. Since parents are uniquely qualified to assess their children's emotional maturity, a signature on a permission slip is a parent's ultimate safeguard. This is equally important to protect school districts from costly liability issues.
#3) Finally, the California Healthy Youth Act does not require that sexual health and HIV prevention education for elementary school children (TK-6th grade) be age
appropriate and medically accurate, as it does in
grades 7-12. SB673 closes a loophole to provide clarity and ensure our children are not exposed to inappropriate or inaccurate instruction. All children must receive age appropriate and medically accurate information and our youngest children deserve these added protections.