By Bob Katzen
The Senate 35-0, approved an amendment that would require each city, town, regional school district, vocational school district and charter school, beginning in November 2021, to file a biennial report with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) regarding its sex education course.
The report would include a description of sexual education curricula offered, the aggregate number of students enrolled in the course and the aggregate number of students who withdrew from the course. The DESE commissioner would post the aggregated data on the its website and transmit the raw data collected to the Department of Public Health.
Amendment supporters said the amendment would ensure transparency by allowing the DESE to track the efficacy and compare the outcomes of students who receive this education versus those who do not.