Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: During the 2020 Virginia General Assembly session, legislation passed requiring individualized education program teams to consider the need for certain age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction. House Bill 134 required the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to establish guidelines for individualized education program (IEP) teams to utilize when developing IEPs for children with disabilities to ensure that IEP teams consider the need for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction related to sexual health, self-restraint, self-protection, respect for personal privacy, and personal boundaries of others. The legislation also requires each local school board, in developing IEPs for children with disabilities, in addition to any other requirements established by the Board, to ensure that IEP teams consider such guidelines. The purpose of this document is to provide school divisions a framework for the development of operating guidelines tailored to local resources and service delivery models. This document does not replace any federal or state regulations. Additionally, this information is provided to assist IEP teams in considerations for instructional planning and implementation in these critical areas.
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5/9/21  8:06 pm
Commenter: Alex Weathersby

Disabled Youth Deserve Health Information
 
Sexual health education for youth with disabilities is so important to me as a sexual violence preventionist! Disabled youth experience incredibly high rates of sexual violence and often do not receive comprehensive information about consent or sexual and reproductive health. Additional guidelines for choosing comprehensive educational resources, so that students can access information to make informed decisions about healthy and fulfilling romantic and sexual relationships, in addition to abuse prevention, would change the lives for so many youth with disabilities. 
 
CommentID: 98039