Generally
The Goochland County School Board provides Family Life Education (FLE) based on the FLE Standards of Learning (SOL) and curriculum guidelines developed by the Board of Education. All such instruction shall be designed to promote parental involvement, foster positive self-concepts, and provide mechanisms for coping with peer pressure and the stresses of modern living according to the students' developmental stages and abilities.
The SOL objectives related to dating violence and the characteristics of abusive relationships are taught at least once in middle school and at least twice in high school. The high school FLE curriculum incorporates age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention of dating violence, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, including sexual harassment using electronic means, and sexual violence, human trafficking, and the law and meaning of consent.
Such age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention of sexual violence may include instruction that increases student awareness of the fact that consent is required before sexual activity.
The FLE curriculum offered in any school incorporates age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the importance of the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals and tools for a student to use to ensure that the student respects the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals. The FLE curriculum incorporates age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the harmful physical and emotional effects of female genital mutilation; associated criminal penalties; and the rights of the victim, including any civil action pursuant to Va. Code § 8.01-42.5.
The FLE curriculum may incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention, recognition, and awareness of child abduction, child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse, and in any such curriculum offered in high school, human trafficking of children.
"Opt-out" Procedures
An "opt-out" procedure is provided to ensure communication with the parent or guardian for permission for students to be excused from all or part of the program.
Review
The FLE curriculum is reviewed regularly by the School Health Advisory Board. The School Board reviews its family life education curriculum at least once every seven years, evaluates whether the curricula reflect contemporary community standards, and revises the curricula if necessary.
Right of Parental Review
A parent or guardian has the right to review the family life curricula, including all supplemental materials used in the program. A complete copy of all printed materials not subject to copyright protection and a description of all audio-visual materials is made available through any available parental portal and kept in the school library or office and made available for review to any parent or guardian during school office hours before and during the school year. The audio-visual materials are made available to parents for in-person review, upon request, on the same basis as printed materials are made available.
The School Board develops and distributes to the parents or guardians of students participating in the FLE program and posts for public viewing on the division's website a summary designed to assist them in understanding the program implemented in its school division and to encourage parental guidance and involvement in the instruction of the students. Such information reflects the curricula of the program as taught in the classroom. The school division includes the following information on the summary: "Parents and guardians have the right to review the family life education program offered by their school division, including written and audio-visual educational materials used in the program. Parents and guardians also have the right to excuse their child from all or part of family life education instruction."