In 1988, the South Carolina Legislature passed the Comprehensive Health Education Act into law. The purpose of the law is to address the crucial need for state public schools to be involved in the health and well-being of their students. Key components of the law established age-appropriate sequential instruction in the area of health education. Additional legislature mandated that schools provide opportunities for students to participate in physical activity on a regular basis. Kindergarten through grade five students are required to receive instruction in nutrition at least once a week. The Comprehensive Health Education Act mandates that schools provide time for health education instruction. Therefore, the South Carolina Department of Education professional staff, working in collaboration with the Safety Education Standards Review Committee and the Writing Team, created South Carolina Health and Safety Education Curriculum Standards to ensure that schools are satisfying the intent of the Comprehensive Health Education Act. Darlington County School District educators adhere to the law by using the SCDE Health and Safety Education curriculum, instructional support documents, and health instructional materials in our classrooms to educate our children to make health choices that promote healthy well-being.

Darlington County Comprehensive Health Curriculum

Ronald Rouse’s Law honors the life and legacy of a beloved 18-year-old student in our district who tragically passed away on October 5, 2012, following complications from an enlarged heart during a football game at Hartsville High School. Governor Nikki Haley signed the law requiring South Carolina high school students to learn CPR skills and awareness in the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) at least one time during the entire four years of grades nine through twelve. 

The Comprehensive Health Education Act was amended in 2014 to include Erin’s Law and the State Board of Education approved grade level instructional units for the 2014 legislation, Erin’s Law (Act 293). These materials are offered as optional resources that schools and districts may choose to use. The 2014 amendment to the Comprehensive Health Education Act requires that all schools provide instruction in sexual abuse and sexual assault prevention during the academic calendar year to students in grades PreK-12th grade. The law can be accessed at: SC Comprehensive Health Education Act. 

In 2023, South Carolina introduced Gavin's Law (Act 54), which makes sexual extortion (blackmail using explicit images or videos) a crime. The law requires South Carolina school districts to work with the State Department of Education, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Attorney General's office to implement a policy to educate and notify students of the provisions of Gavin's Law. The Darlington County School Boad policies can be accessed here.

Elementary School Grades K-5

• State Adopted Textbook: Health and Wellness. McGraw-Hill School Education, LLC, 2014.

• State Approved Resources: Erin’s Law, http://erinslaw.org & https://www.kidpower.org/ 

Middle School Grades 6-8

• State Adopted Textbook: Essential Health Skills for Middle School. Goodheart-Willcox Co., 2023.

• Erin's Law, Gavin's Law, Reproductive Health-Supplemented Resources: Nu-Culture/Healthy Futures. Cultivating Leaders through Relationship Education

• Human Trafficking: One Child At A Time; a registered 501(c)(3) anti-human trafficking non-profit organization based in Florence, South Carolina

High School Grades 9-12

• State Adopted Textbook: Prentice-Hall Health. Savaas Learning, 2013.

• Erin's Law, Gavin's Law, Reproductive Health-Supplemented Resources: TOP Lessons (Teen Outreach Program)

• Human Trafficking: One Child At A Time; a registered 501(c)(3) anti-human trafficking non-profit organization based in Florence, South Carolina

• Ronald Rouse Law-CPR/AED Instruction: Each high school has a class set of CPR mannequins along with an AED Training Kit that teachers use for CPR instruction. The Stroke/Chest Pain Center of Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center provides annual training for teachers. 

Elementary Schools Grades K-5 Required for each student:

60 minutes weekly of Physical Education

90 minutes weekly of Physical Activity (18 minutes of daily recess, walking or dance)

Total 150 minutes weekly

Middle Schools Grades 6-8 Required minimum for each student: Nine Weeks

High School Grades 9-12: One High School Credit