I support SB656 requiring notification of parents of school age children that require each public elementary or secondary school to provide parental notification and review of instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and offer alternative instructional materials to any student whose parent objects to the curriculum. 

I support these critically important model policies in order to protect children from inappropriate sexual content at school and to respect parents’ right to determine whether their children are exposed to this content. Not only do parents have a fundamental right to make these decisions, but they are also in the best position to know what is appropriate for their unique children. Please also make sure through this document that there are certain specific actions that every school MUST take in order to ensure sexually explicit materials are correctly identified and seen by parents first. I am concerned that, unless certain minimum standards are expressly mandated (as opposed to providing examples or suggestions), many schools may find ways around what they consider to be mere guidance.