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The Clark County School District wants to make sex education mandatory unless parents explicitly opt their child out 鈥� a switch from the current process wherein parents must explicitly opt their child in to health education.

CCSD, the nation鈥檚 fifth-largest school district, declined to elaborate on its plans but included the proposal in a list of it plans to submit for the upcoming legislative session, which begins in February.

Nevada is one of where parents or guardians must give permission before students can enroll in sex ed. The others are Utah, Texas, Mississippi, and Arizona.

State Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, a Democrat, introduced in 2019 which would have made sex education opt-out and required teaching statewide evidence-based and factual information about puberty, pregnancy, parenting, body image, and gender stereotypes.

The bill died in committee, but Bilbray-Axelrod plans to reintroduce it in the upcoming session.

Under state statutes, schools are only required to teach medically accurate sex education about AIDS.

Nevada ranked first in the nation for having the of primary & secondary (P&S) syphilis in 2020, the most current data available.

Only 17 states in America require sexual education to be medically accurate, . States鈥� definitions of what constitutes medically accurate sex education differ substantially nationwide 鈥� with some having health departments review the curriculum and others having the curriculum based on information from sources that medical professionals use.

The and the burgeoning public health crisis of have renewed interest nationally in expanding efforts to revamp sex education.

CCSD currently does teach .

鈥淚鈥檓 not worried about CCSD,鈥� said Bilbray-Axelrod, 鈥渂ut I am more worried about other counties.鈥�

Without a statewide mandate more rural counties and at-risk populations like homeless youth or children in the foster care system, who face additional barriers to getting a guardian or parent鈥檚 signature, are left underserved.

Nevada consistently has the and has the highest rate of children nationally.

Both and have higher rates of STIs than their peers.

鈥淭here are homeless children who don鈥檛 have parents to opt in to sex education,鈥� Bilbray-Axelrod said.

While 31% of Nevada high school students reported having sexual intercourse at least once, 44% did not use a condom, the only birth control method that prevents STIs,

Of the roughly 26 million new cases of STIs in the U.S., half are among people ages 15 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the CDC reports that medically accurate sex education can prevent HIV, STIs, and unintended pregnancy for teens and young adults.

Reported cases of gonorrhea, P&S syphilis, and syphilis among newborns () were all up in 2020 compared to 2019, and early data indicates the trend continued in 2021,

Bilbray-Axelrod鈥檚 2019 bill wasn鈥檛 the only sex education-related bill in recent years.

In 2017, , which would have periodically updated course content to be medically accurate, was passed mostly by Democrats, and had , but was vetoed by then-Gov. Brian Sandoval.

鈥淲hile local school boards and educators play an important role in sex education courses, the role of the parents in this system is most important,鈥� said Sandoval in his veto statement.

If the issue does arise in the upcoming session, it will no doubt raise the ire of conservative groups, like Power2Parent, whose president and CEO Erin Phillips lobbied for that Sandoval veto.

Phillips acknowledged that vulnerable groups like the homeless and foster youth have a lot of needs, but said she doesn鈥檛 believe opt-out sex education is high on that list.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a solution in search of a problem,鈥� she said.

At the national level, Nevada U.S. Democratic Rep. Dina Titus co-sponsored the 鈥嬧��, which would require sex education curriculum to be comprehensive and medically accurate. Neither that bill nor a measure in the Senate has moved beyond introduction.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: [email protected]. Follow Nevada Current on and .

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