Sexual health education in Minnesota could change

It’s not easy talking about sex or sex education. That’s true if you’re a high school student, a parent or a Minnesota legislator.

Lawmakers last year ordered an update to state standards for health education in schools, including sex education. The topic, though, remains uncomfortable for many, and getting an agreement on new standards is proving to be a challenge.

Here’s what to know about the state of sex education in schools and why change won’t be easy.

1) Minnesota’s current standards earn an ‘F’ 

Sexual health education standards in Minnesota are fairly basic with the law focused on abstinence and reducing and preventing risks of sexually transmitted diseases and infections.

Current standards don’t require instruction on consent, sexual orientation or gender identity and healthy relationships. While the state gets praise for having a policy, the national nonprofit sex education group SIECUS gives Minnesota a failing grade when it comes to content and implementation. 

Past efforts by DFL lawmakers to broaden the standards have fallen short. Recently, Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis, introduced two bills two years in a row relating to comprehensive sexual health education that both failed. 

Statewide, data shows the majority of Minnesota parents want their children to learn medically accurate sexual health education. A University of Minnesota study found there is no rural and urban divide on the need for sexual health education. 

The bill passed last year requires statewide health standards to be developed and implemented by the 2026-27 school year. That process started in January with a nonpartisan committee formed by the Minnesota Department of Education that includes students, teachers and community members.

They will not dictate curriculum for schools, but hope to establish benchmarks to guide teacher instruction on topics including nutrition, alcohol and drugs and sexually transmitted infections, or STIs.

2) Local or statewide control? Debate over best path

Most Minnesota parents have long supported comprehensive sexual health education for students, and Minnesota school districts have the power to do more on sex education than what the state requires — and students can opt out from the curriculum. The question under discussion now is whether to require districts statewide to do more.

Minnesota House Rep. Peggy-Bennett, R-Albert Lea, said she wants to leave all health standards in schools up to local control. 

“When you’re discussing things like anal sex, oral sex, vaginal sex, masturbation, when to teach those things, when not to, that belongs at local council because it’s very wrapped up in community values and very wrapped up in people’s religious beliefs,” Bennett, a retired educator and co-chair of the House Education Policy Committee, said during a February hearing.

Bennett introduced a bill to repeal future statewide health standards. Supporters of broader requirements, though, say local control doesn’t go far enough in many districts and that stifling statewide standards will make things worse.

“It’s very clear that the reason for trying to repeal health education standards is because of a fear and hatred for sex education,” said Meg Bartlett-Chase, the founder of Honest Sex Ed Minnesota, a new statewide nonprofit, who has a PhD in education policy.

She said she wants to help empower teachers statewide to talk with students about sex education in ways that are more accurate and accessible. “Sex education is not like a sexy, fun topic,” she said. “It is education. It is health.”

3) Students, teachers taking the lead

It’s not unusual in these kinds of debates for the people directly affected to feel shut out. Not this time. Students and teachers are on the standards review group and they’re speaking up.

During a Senate hearing in March, Stephen Chapin, a health and physical education teacher in St. James and member of the health standards committee, said the current law is written with little clarity and encourages “fear-based education.”

Chapin said he’s had only two students opt out in the 30 years he’s taught sex education.

“Fear-based education focused only on abstaining from acts that may result in the spreading of STI’s is harmful, and well below the standards of best practices in health education,” he said. “The language in these statutes matter. As it stands, the statute is unclear and hard to discern what implementation should look like around the state.” 

Rasana Mamdani, 16, another member of the health standards committee, said while she had a great experience with her sexual health education, she knows that is not the same across Minnesota. 

She hopes that with new health standards and updating the language of the current statute, students like her can make informed decisions about their bodies. 

“I want young people to feel super safe and knowledgeable about their bodies so they can make decisions for themselves.” she said. “As young people, we are told a lot to talk to adults and figure it out, which I think is very important but also it’s really important to me that young people have the information they need. That feeling of being equipped with safety when it comes to sexually transmitted infections is something Minnesota students are really looking for.”

4) What comes next

The committee hopes to wrap up in June with a full draft of health education standards. The state Education Department will then work through December formatting and editing the proposal. It will be reviewed in the 2025-26 school year, and it’s expected to be implemented in schools starting in 2026-27. 

Lawmakers, meanwhile, are still tinkering with the general language around sex education. 

Last month, the Minnesota Senate agreed to modify the existing statute around sexual health education by replacing the expression “technically accurate” with “medically accurate” in describing the facts around what’s to be taught. The measure also removes “until marriage” language. It currently lives in the Senate policy omnibus education bill.

Despite the political back-and-forth, Bartlett-Chase expressed hope that the process to write new standards will yield something positive.

“I might just be delusional and persistent and consistently having these conversations with everybody all the time and I’m not gonna say that it’s not a scary time for a lot of folks with different gender identities and experiences in this world around sexuality, myself included, as a queer woman,” she said. “But right now, I think that there is such a movement for community and connection around these topics that I am afraid, but I’m hopeful.”

The Minnesota Department of Education’s website has more information here, those who are interested can offer feedback.