SCS/SB 168 - This act makes makes several changes to help improve high school graduation rates.

TRANSPORTATION - The state board of education shall approve proper transportation costs to ensure that each resident pupil is able to attend the same district school throughout the school year even if the pupil s residence changes to a different school attendance area in the district.

FUNDING - The first ten million dollars of savings in court-ordered desegregation payments shall be appropriated to dropout prevention programs including at least two million dollars for alternative schools and two million dollars for A+ Schools.

DATABASE - The act establishes a public school pupil attendance database. The database will be used to improve monitoring of dropouts and to determine the number of eligible pupils used to determine state school aid. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall report the graduation rate annually to the Governor and General Assembly on a statewide and per district basis.

ABSTINENCE - Public school instruction in sex education shall present abstinence as the preferred choice of sexual behavior for unmarried persons, shall devote more attention to abstinence, shall state that only abstinence is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy and sexual transmission of disease, shall discuss possible emotional, psychological and financial consequences of sexual activity, shall emphasize respect for monogamous marriage, shall emphasize self-control and resisting peer pressure and shall teach contraception in terms of real human use failure rates.

School districts shall not distribute condoms or other contraceptives nor refer students to any other entity for distribution of condoms or contraceptives.

School districts may separate students by gender for sex education. School districts shall ensure that sexual education is appropriate to the age of the student.

Parents shall be informed of the content of the district's sex education curriculum and of the parent s right to remove the student from any part of the district s sex education program.

A school district shall make sexual education curriculum materials available for public inspection prior to the use of such materials in actual instruction.

The portion of the act pertaining to abstinence is identical to SCS/SB 126 from 1997.

OTTO FAJEN