Nevada State Profile

NEVADA’S STATE OF SEX ED

Current Requirements At Glance – Nevada schools are required to establish a human sexuality course. However, the course cannot be a requirement for graduation and therefore does not ensure all students receive sex education. 

• Nevada has no standard regarding instruction on abstinence. 
• Curriculum is not required to include instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. 
• Curriculum is not required to include instruction on consent. 
• Parents must provide written consent for their children to participate in human sexuality education. This is referred to as an “opt-in” policy.  
• Nevada has no regulation regarding medically accurate sex education instruction. However, instruction on AIDS must be factual. 

RECENT LEGISLATION SHAPING THE STATE LANDSCAPE

Advocates have actively worked to advance sex education in Nevada at the state and local level over the past several years, celebrating numerous successes. While advocates continue to push for an advanced statewide sex education requirement, local districts have taken the initiative to improve their curriculum.

Sex education is not currently a graduation requirement in Nevada, although schools must offer a human sexuality course. While curriculum must include instruction on AIDS, the human reproductive system, related communicable diseases, and sexual responsibility, each district is tasked with determining what additional curriculum–if any at all–they provide to young people. Local control over sex education presents unique challenges that have resulted in a glaring disparity regarding the quality of sex education that students receive. Such discretion allows for the implementation of policies and curriculum that stigmatize marginalized youth, such as students of color and LGBTQAI+ youth, and presents further challenges in ensuring that low income districts have access to the resources needed to implement sex education.

Advocates report that students sometimes fail to receive any sex education at all and that abstinence-only proponents are occasionally invited into schools to give abstinence-only until marriage instruction. It has also been reported that instructors often lack access to training on teaching topics related to human sexuality, highlighting the need for further investment in educator training to ensure they are supported in providing medically accurate instruction. Despite the numerous barriers to sex education, advocates report that many people already think sex education is mandated in Nevada schools. Such lack of awareness deters further action to improve sex education requirements at the state and local level.

Right now, advocates can take action to ensure young people in their community have access to quality sex education. After contacting their local school board, advocates can determine what topics are missing from sex education instruction, such as instruction on consent, sexual orientation and gender identity, and contraceptives and to ensure that their school board is appropriately assessing instructors to prevent abstinence-only instructors from infiltrating schools. Advocates can then raise community awareness about the importance of these topics and share their concerns with their district’s Sexuality, Health, and Responsibility Education Advisory Committee. Advocates are encouraged to take action on pending legislation that seeks to advance or restrict the principles of sex education. For a current overview of pending legislation, see table below. Further, advocates can contact their representatives to discuss the critical need for advancing sex education requirements. Advocates are encouraged to use the SIECUS Community Action Toolkit to guide local efforts to advance sex education and to reach out to EducateUs to get connected to local advocacy groups.

More on sex ed in Nevada…

State Law: A Closer Look

Nevada Revised Statutes § 389.036 mandates that each school district’s board of trustees “shall establish a course or unit of a course of”:

• Factual instruction concerning acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); and
• Instruction on the human reproductive system, related communicable diseases, and sexual responsibility.

Such classes cannot be a requirement for graduation. The subjects of the courses may be taught only by a teacher or school nurse whose qualifications have been previously approved by the board of trustees. Furthermore, each board of trustees must appoint an advisory committee to advise on course content and instructional materials. Advisory committees shall consist of five parents who have children in the school district and four representatives from the medicine, counseling, religion, student, or teaching communities. Nevada law also requires that:

The parent or guardian of each pupil to whom a course is offered must first be furnished written notice that the course will be offered. The notice must be given in the usual manner used by the local district to transmit written material to parents, and [it] must contain a form for the signature of the parent or guardian of the pupil consenting to his attendance. Upon receipt of the written consent of the parent or guardian, the pupil may attend the course. If the written consent of the parent or guardian is not received, he must be excused from such attendance without any penalty as to credits or academic standing. This is referred to as an “opt-in” policy. “Opt-in” policies unnecessarily create further administrative burden in enrolling students in sex education by requiring written parental consent PRIOR to students receiving sex education. This severely restricts how many students are able to receive instruction.

State Standards

The Nevada Department of Education provides Health Education Standards to help guide curriculum development. Beginning in grades 6-8, students learn to “analyze risky behaviors that may lead to the spread of communicable disease (i.e., sexually transmitted infections (STIs).” The standards also include contraception, abstinence, abortion laws, healthy relationships education, and consent.

State Legislation

State legislative activity related to sex education does not take place in isolation from the broader embroiled political and policy climate. In 2022, a national wave of attacks on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQAI+) individuals, attempts to restrict or prohibit instruction on “divisive concepts” such as “Critical Race Theory” (which is not taught in public schools), and efforts to limit access to abortion care and other reproductive healthcare services swept the country in an effort to prevent students from receiving sex education and accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare services. Below are highlights of current legislative activity related to these topics.  Nevada’s 2023 biennial session convenes on February 06, 2023. 

Youth Sexual Health Data

Young people are more than their health behaviors and outcomes. While data can be a powerful tool to demonstrate the sex education and sexual health care needs of young people, it is important to be mindful that these behaviors and outcomes are impacted by systemic inequities present in our society that affect an individual’s sexual health and well-being. To learn more about Nevada’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) results, click here. At the time of publication, the 2021 YRBS data was not made available yet.

Nevada School Health Profiles Data 

In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the 2020 School Health Profiles, which measure school health policies and practices and highlight which health topics were taught in schools across the country. Since the data were collected from self-administered questionnaires completed by schools’ principals and lead health education teachers, the CDC notes that one limitation of the School Health Profiles is bias toward the reporting of more positive policies and practices. In the School Health Profiles, the CDC identifies 22 sexual health education topics as critical for ensuring a young person’s sexual health. Below are key instruction highlights for secondary schools in Nevada as reported for the 2019–2020 school year. 

Reported teaching all 22 critical sexual health education topics

• 34.3% of Nevada secondary schools taught students all 22 critical sexual health education topics in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8.
• 58.0% of Nevada secondary schools taught students all 22 critical sexual health education topics in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Reported teaching about the benefits of being sexually abstinent

• 89.0% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about the benefits of being sexually abstinent in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8. 
• 96.7% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about the benefits of being sexually abstinent in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12. 

Reported teaching how to access valid and reliable information, products, and services related to HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy

• 82.4% of Nevada secondary schools taught students how to access valid and reliable information, products, and services related to HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8.
• 95.1% of Nevada secondary schools taught students how to access valid and reliable information, products, and services related to HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Reported teaching how to create and sustain healthy and respectful relationships

• 77.7% of Nevada secondary schools taught students how to create and sustain healthy and respectful relationships in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8. 
• 93.4% of Nevada secondary schools taught students how to create and sustain healthy and respectful relationships in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Reported teaching about preventive care that is necessary to maintain reproductive and sexual health

• 70.5% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about preventive care that is necessary to maintain reproductive and sexual health in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8. 
• 97.4% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about preventive care that is necessary to maintain reproductive and sexual health in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12. 

Reported teaching how to correctly use a condom

• 28.1% of Nevada secondary schools taught students how to correctly use a condom in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8. 
• 72.8% of Nevada secondary schools taught students how to correctly use a condom in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12. 

Reported teaching about methods of contraception other than condoms

• 49.7% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about methods of contraception other than condoms in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8.
• 90.1% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about methods of contraception other than condoms in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Reported teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity

• 60.1% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about sexual orientation and gender identity in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8.
• 72.0 % of Nevada secondary schools taught students about sexual orientation and gender identity in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Reported teaching about how gender roles and stereotypes affect goals, decision-making, and relationships

• 68.6% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about gender roles and stereotypes in a required course in any of grades 6, 7, or 8.
• 77.8% of Nevada secondary schools taught students about gender roles and stereotypes  in a required course in any of grades 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Reported providing curricula or supplementary materials relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) youth

• 53.0% of Nevada secondary schools provided students with curricula or supplementary materials that included HIV, STD, or pregnancy prevention information relevant to LGBTQ youth.

Visit the CDC’s School Health Profiles report for additional information on school health policies and practices.

The quality of sex education taught often reflects funding available for sex education programs. To learn more about federal funding streams, click here.