The Senate removed deferring health education until grade 6. It may be resurrected in the House. Health education should not be deferred until grade 6. Furthermore, health education is not just sex education. It includes information on sound nutrition, exercise, diseases, and healthy living.
Parents also have the opportunity to preview health education materials and curriculum.
In fact, SB 186 should remain focused on education reform and not serve as a vehicle for an anti-sex education agenda. SB-186 requires all 11th graders to take the ACT to encourage them to go to college. These scores are recorded on students transcripts, are included in the schools ranking, are expensive, and come too late to impact students course selection. A better plan might be to have 11th graders take the PSAT which is not recorded. Another suggestion is the PLAN test at the beginning of 10th grade.