Landes bill on explicit materials in schools passes Senate

Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave, Chairman of the House Education Committee, today announced passage of House Bill 516, which requires the Board of Education to establish a policy regarding sexually explicit materials for public schools. The bill passed the Senate 22 to 17.

“I am pleased that this legislation which provides the option for a parent to review the material and allow a student to receive a different assignment, if requested, has now passed the House of Delegates and State Senate,” Landes said. “I would like to stress, this legislation does not tell a teacher what he or she can teach or how he or she can teach it – it simply provides for parental notification of explicit material,” noted Landes.

House Bill 516 codifies the parental notification requirement and directs the Board of Education to establish a policy requiring every public school in Virginia to: directly notify parents about specific sexually explicit material; permit the parent of a student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content; and provide, upon request, alternative assignments that do not contain sexually explicit material. It will now proceed to the Governor’s office for his review.

Landes represents the 25th House District, which includes parts of Albemarle, Augusta, and Rockingham Counties. Landes is currently serving his eleventh term in the Virginia House of Delegates.