Does North Carolina's mandatory comprehensive school health education program apply to high school students, and what control do parents and local boards have over its sex-education component?
Plain-English summary
Richard Thompson asked the State Board of Education's counsel five questions about G.S. § 115C-81(e1), the statute governing North Carolina's comprehensive school health education program. Senior Deputy AG Edwin Speas, Special Deputy Thomas Ziko, and Assistant AG Laura Crumpler answered each in turn.
Grades covered. The mandatory "comprehensive school health education program" applies only to grades kindergarten through nine. The definition in § 115C-81(e1)(1) is grade-limited on its face. Several other provisions of the statute reach all grades: the State Board's duty to develop STD prevention objectives (subsection (e1)(3)), the State Board's duty to maintain a list of approved abstinence-until-marriage curricula (subsection (e1)(4)), and parents' opt-out rights for STD, abstinence, and sex-education instruction (subsection (e1)(7)).
Public hearings. § 115C-81(e1)(6) requires a public hearing before a local board adopts a "comprehensive sex education" program at the K-9 level. The hearing is not required for grades 10-12 because the mandatory program does not cover those grades, so adopting sex education there is outside the (e1)(6) procedural requirement.
Parental requests. A local board does not need a parent request to start a comprehensive sex education program. Local board decisions can be driven by parent requests, superintendent proposals, or independent board judgment.
Sex ed and abstinence ed as separate or combined. The statute is silent on format. A local board can teach both in one course or split them into separate courses. There is no requirement that students get a certain quantity of abstinence instruction before any sex-ed instruction. Parents retain the right to opt their child out of the abstinence-until-marriage portion while letting the child take the sex-education portion, or vice versa.
Annual hearings. A public hearing under (e1)(6) is required when the local board adopts a comprehensive sex education program for K-9. The hearing is not required every year unless the local board is making changes to the program. If the board adopts a stable program and continues offering it unchanged, no annual hearing is needed. Parents still have the annual opportunity to review materials and withhold consent under (e1)(7).
Scope of the regulation. § 115C-81(e1) regulates the content of the K-9 mandatory program. It does not regulate medical instruction by a school nurse to a single student outside that program, nor does it regulate after-school or extracurricular instruction (sports camps, off-campus activities outside the curriculum). Off-campus instruction that is part of the comprehensive school health education program (a field trip to a health education center, for example) is regulated like classroom instruction, including parental opt-out rights.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1997. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. The North Carolina legislature has amended G.S. § 115C-81 multiple times since 1997. Healthy Youth Act amendments in 2009 substantially restructured sex education law, adding curriculum requirements and parental notice provisions. Anyone working through a current school health education or sex-education curriculum question should look at the current text of § 115C-81 and § 115C-81.30 (and related sections) along with State Board of Education policy guidance.
Background and statutory framework
G.S. § 115C-81(e1) is the legislative core of North Carolina's school health curriculum. It mandates a "comprehensive school health education program" for grades K-9. Within that program, the statute lists required topics, including sexually transmitted diseases and abstinence-until-marriage education. Other subsections set out State Board responsibilities, local board authority to expand the program, and parental rights.
The opinion's structural reading of (e1) is the central interpretive move. The statute's grade limitation appears in the definitional subsection and reaches only the mandatory program; the freestanding obligations and parental rights are not grade-limited and apply everywhere. That distinction lets local boards offer sex education in high school without triggering the (e1)(6) public-hearing procedure (which is tied to expansion of the K-9 mandatory program) while still respecting parental opt-out at every grade.
The opinion is careful about what it does not say. It does not constrain local boards' choices about whether to offer sex education at all in any grade. It does not specify what kind of materials qualify for the abstinence-until-marriage component. It does not preempt the parental opt-out, which it treats as nonwaivable and grade-neutral.
Common questions
Did the AG say sex education was required in high school?
No. The AG said the mandatory K-9 program does not extend to grades 10-12. Whether to offer sex education at the high school level is a local board choice. If the board chooses to offer it, the public-hearing requirement of (e1)(6) does not attach (because that requirement targets K-9 program expansion), but the parental opt-out under (e1)(7) does.
Could a local board offer "abstinence only" instead of comprehensive sex education?
The opinion says abstinence-until-marriage education is a mandatory component of the K-9 program. Local boards could elect to add a comprehensive sex education program on top of that mandatory abstinence base, but they could not omit the abstinence component from the mandatory program. At the high school level, the local board had broader discretion.
How did this interact with parental rights?
(e1)(7) gives parents the right to review materials and withhold consent to their child's participation in any STD, abstinence, or sex-education instruction. That right is statutory, grade-neutral, and applies whether the instruction is in the mandatory K-9 program or in a high school elective. Schools cannot waive it or work around it through scheduling or materials choices.
What about a school nurse counseling an individual student?
The opinion distinguishes classroom instruction (regulated by (e1)) from one-on-one medical assistance (not regulated). A school nurse providing medical assistance to a student in a clinical context, including discussion of medical topics relevant to that assistance, is outside the curricular regulation. The line between the two can be fuzzy in practice but the opinion treats them as separate domains.
What about extracurricular activities and sports camps?
The opinion is clear that after-school and extracurricular activities are outside the regulation, even if they are run by LEA employees. The statute targets the comprehensive school health education program, not all instruction by school staff. A coach explaining health topics to a sports team in a camp setting after school is not covered.
How does this affect off-campus instruction?
Off-campus instruction that is part of the comprehensive school health education program is regulated like classroom instruction. A field trip to a health center, for example, must be consistent with the approved curriculum and parents must be able to opt their child out. After-school instruction is different and is not regulated regardless of location.
Source
Citations
- G.S. § 115C-81(e1)
- G.S. § 115C-81(e1)(1)
- G.S. § 115C-81(e1)(3)
- G.S. § 115C-81(e1)(4)
- G.S. § 115C-81(e1)(6)
- G.S. § 115C-81(e1)(7)
- G.S. § 115C-81(e1)(8)
Original opinion text
- What provisions, if any, of G.S. 115C-81(e1) apply to grades ten through twelve?
Response: G.S. 115C-81(e1) provides, in pertinent part: "A comprehensive school health education program shall be developed and taught to pupils of the public schools of this State from kindergarten through ninth grade." (Emphasis added). This section of the statute goes on to specify that this "comprehensive school health education program" must include instruction on several topics, including sexually transmitted diseases and abstinence-until-marriage. However, "comprehensive school health education program" as that term is specifically defined in G.S. 115C-81(e1)(1) is expressly limited to grades kindergarten through nine — no other grades are mentioned in this section of the statute. Therefore, the health program as mandated and described in most of G.S. 115C-81(e1) applies only to grades kindergarten through ninth grade. For example, G.S. 115C-81(e1)(6) requires a local board to conduct a public hearing only when it is contemplating expanding the comprehensive school health education program in grades kindergarten through nine to include a "comprehensive sex education" program. Therefore, G.S. 115C-81(e1)(6) does not require a local board to conduct a public hearing prior to adopting a comprehensive sex education program for grades ten through twelve.
While the paragraphs of G.S. 115C-81(e1) dealing with the "comprehensive school health education program" apply only to grades kindergarten through nine, there are other provisions in that section that would apply to all grades. For example, the duty which G.S. 115C-81(e1)(3) imposes on the State Board to develop objectives for instruction in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases is not limited to the comprehensive school health program required in grades kindergarten through nine. Likewise, the obligation which G.S. 115C-81(e1)(4) imposes on the State Board to maintain a list of recommended abstinence-until-marriage curricula and materials is not limited to any specific grades. Finally, G.S. 115C-81(e1)(7) grants parents and guardians the right to review the objectives and materials associated with certain health related programs and withhold their consent to the children's participation in such programs irrespective of the ages or grades of their children.
Based upon a plain reading of the statute, it appears that the General Assembly intended to provide local communities with more opportunity to respond to proposed changes in the health curriculum for kindergarten through ninth grade, than it provided in other areas or other grades. This distinction reflects not only a reasonable concern for the maturity of younger students but also the Legislature's greater willingness to respect the decisions of individual parents regarding their high-school-age children's participation in certain health related programs.
- Do parents have to request the addition of a comprehensive sex education program?
Response: No. The statute does not limit the circumstances under which an LEA may initiate a comprehensive sex education program. An LEA may decide to offer a comprehensive sex education program whenever the local board of education deems it appropriate. That decision may be in response to a parent's request or a proposal from the superintendent or it may arise from the independent judgment of a member of the board.
- Does G.S. 115C-81(e1) contemplate that the "comprehensive sex education" component of the comprehensive school health education program will be separate and distinct from the mandatory "abstinence until marriage education" component?
Response: G.S. 115C-81(e1) mandates that "a comprehensive school health education . . . . be developed and taught. . . ." The statute goes on to mandate that one component of that program must be "abstinence until marriage education." Thus by the plain language of the statute, abstinence education is a required part of the comprehensive school health program which must be taught at all schools.
G.S. 115C-81(e1)(6) specifically grants local boards the authority to "expand on the subject areas" and "on the instructional objectives" that will be included in the "comprehensive school health education program." Pursuant to G.S. 115C-81(e1)(6), an LEA may expand the comprehensive school health education program offered in kindergarten through ninth grade to include a "comprehensive sex education program." The statute is silent on the manner in which such a program may be offered. Thus, a comprehensive sex education program may be offered in the same course as the mandatory abstinence-until-marriage program or these two components could be offered in separate courses. In either case, however, there is no statutory requirement that students receive a certain amount of abstinence-until-marriage instruction before receiving instruction in a comprehensive sex education program.
As noted above, LEA's are under no obligation to offer a comprehensive school health education program beyond the ninth grade. Therefore, with respect to grades ten through twelve, the LEA's are free to provide whatever health education instruction they may desire, including a comprehensive sex education program. However, no matter what health instruction an LEA offers to its students, the parents or guardians of all children must have the opportunity to "opt out" of instruction in those areas outlined G.S. 115C-81(e1)(7). In fact, in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 115C-81(e1)(7), parents may elect to withhold their consent to their child's participation in the mandatory abstinence-until-marriage portion of the comprehensive school health education program but permit the child to participate in the comprehensive sex education program offered as part of the expanded health education curriculum.
- Do the provisions of G.S. 115C-81(e1)(6) require local boards of education to conduct public hearings every year before offering a "comprehensive sex education program"?
Response: No. G.S. 115C-81(e1)(6)(a) specifically requires an LEA to conduct a public hearing before it "adopts" a comprehensive sex education program for kindergarten through ninth grade. Clearly, if the local board specifically decides to "adopt" such a program on a yearly basis, it must comply with the statute and hold the requisite hearing prior to each annual adoption. The statute, however, does not require the LEA to hold a public hearing on the comprehensive sex education program if the local board does not make changes in the objectives or materials in that program. But even in the absence of a public hearing, any concerns that individual parents have about the content of the comprehensive sex education program are protected by G.S. 115C-81(e1)(7). As noted above, that subsection requires LEA's to provide parents and guardians the opportunity to review the objectives and materials used in the program each year and permit them to withhold their consent to their child's participation in the program on an annual basis.
- To what instruction does G.S. 115C-81(e1) apply?
Response: The statute generally regulates the content of the comprehensive school health education program which must be taught to pupils in this State from kindergarten through ninth grade. In some cases, it also regulates the process for determining the content of that program. But aside from the limitations that G.S. 115C-81(e1)(8) places on instruction concerning the use of contraceptives or prophylactics, G.S. 115C-81(e1) does not regulate the content of instruction outside the comprehensive school health education program. For example, if the school nurse is assigned the responsibility for providing classroom instruction on sexually transmitted diseases within a comprehensive sex education program, then the materials used in that instruction must have been the subject of a public hearing under G.S. 115C-81(e1)(6). However, the statute does not regulate the matters which a school nurse may discuss with a student in the context of providing medical assistance to a student or the materials to which she may refer in that context.
Consistent with this interpretation, it is also our opinion that the location of the instruction in the comprehensive school health education program is not a determinative factor when deciding whether G.S. 115C-81(e1) applies. The statute pertains to the content of the comprehensive school health education program. If an LEA's comprehensive school health education program includes an off-campus component such as a field trip to a health education center, medical office or hospital, then the instruction the students receive at the off-campus site must be consistent with the approved content of the comprehensive school health education program. Moreover, parents must be allowed to withhold their consent to their child's participation in any such off-campus instruction that pertains to sexually transmitted diseases, avoidance of out-of-wedlock pregnancy; abstinence-until-marriage; or sex education.
After-school instruction cannot be a component of the comprehensive school health education program. Therefore, the statute does not regulate off-campus instruction which is outside the comprehensive school health education program such as a sports camp, whether or not the persons providing the instruction are LEA employees. Moreover, it is our opinion that the reference to instruction concerning the use of contraceptives and prophylactics in G.S. 115C-81(e1)(8) refers to instruction within the school's approved curriculum. Consequently, it is our opinion that the General Assembly did not intend the statute to apply to extracurricular instruction either before or after school, on or off school property.
We hope these responses clarify the questions you had regarding the scope and application of G.S. 115C-81(e1).
Edwin M. Speas, Jr.
Senior Deputy Attorney General
Thomas J. Ziko
Special Deputy Attorney General
Laura C. Crumpler
Assistant Attorney General