Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has signed a bill into law that will require school boards to inform parents of when books used in the classroom contain sexually explicit content. Known as Senate Bill 656, the new law orders the Virginia Department of Education to create “model policies” for school boards by July 31, and requires school boards to adopt the policies by Jan. 1 of next year.
“The Department shall develop and make available to each school board model policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content,” states SB 656.
The policies will include parental notification, “identifying the specific instructional material and sexually explicit subjects,” and allowing “the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and provide, as an alternative, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests.”
Youngkin also signed House Bill 938, which requires the Board of Education “to convene a group of stakeholders” that would include parents and school officials in order to make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding issues like improving academic standards and increasing transparency for proficiency standards.
Youngkin explained that SB 656 and HB 938 “both deliver on my Day One promises to give parents a greater say in their children’s education.”
Last year, Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools, which is one of the largest school districts in the United States, garnered controversy for having sexually graphic books in their high school libraries.