In the Nebraska Health Education Frameworks, the Nebraska State Board of Education supports “an abstinence approach to risk behaviors associated with … sexual activity” and declares that all “state monies shall be dedicated to abstinence programs.” The board also adopted specific abstinence-only guidelines to be used in any school unit involving family life or sex education. The guidelines include teaching that “abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage is the expected standard for all school-age children” and “a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity.” The guidelines also note that the best way to develop family life or sex education units is for parents, school boards, and teachers to work together with schools, districts, and communities “so all have a voice in the process and content.”
Nebraska state law does not require parental permission for students to participate in sex education or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) education, nor does it say whether parents or guardians may remove their children from such classes. However, the Board of Education does recommend that school districts “inform parents of intended activities and permit parents to have their children excluded from the activities.”
In September 2019, the Nebraska State Board of Education revised their Nondiscrimination and Equitable Educational Opportunities in Schools position statement, detailing the Nebraska Department of Education’s commitment to educational equity to students regardless of “age, citizenship status, color, disability, economic status, ethnicity, family mobility, family structure, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, political affiliation, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, tribal membership, or veteran status.”
The Nebraska Department of Education engaged a group of educators (teachers, administrators, ESU staff, postsecondary representatives) in developing Nebraska Health Education standards to create a framework for K-12 health education. A first draft was released in March 2021 with a second draft released in July 2021. The Nebraska Board of Education voted to pause the process in September 2021.
State Profiles provided by SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change. For more information regarding your state’s sex ed policy, visit https://siecus.org/state_profile/nebraska-state-profile-23/