HB 1505: Quality Basic Education Act; prescribed course of study in sex education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention instruction is age appropriate and medically accurate; provide

Georgia law already requires local school boards to teach sex education and HIV prevention using a state-approved course of study, but it does not currently define what counts as medically accurate or require age-appropriate content. This bill amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-143 to add a definition of 'medically accurate' based on sound scientific evidence and accepted medical knowledge, and to require that all sex education and HIV prevention instruction be both age-appropriate and medically accurate. The bill adds new topics to the required curriculum, including personal boundaries and responsibility in relationships, and sets rules for districts that offer both abstinence-based and comprehensive courses: parents must affirmatively choose a course in writing, or their child defaults into the abstinence-based course. It also requires comprehensive courses to emphasize abstinence as the most effective method of prevention. The State Board of Education's minimum course of study must be ready by August 1, 2027, and local boards must implement it by July 1, 2028, replacing the old 1988 and 1989 deadlines. Parents retain the right to opt their child out entirely.

• Adds a legal definition of 'medically accurate' to Georgia's sex education law, requiring instruction based on sound scientific evidence and accepted medical knowledge.
• Requires all sex education and HIV prevention courses taught in Georgia public schools to be age-appropriate and medically accurate, not just AIDS-focused as under current law.
• Requires districts offering both an abstinence-based and a comprehensive sex education course to let parents choose in writing, defaulting students into the abstinence-based course if no choice is made.
• Requires any comprehensive sex education course to emphasize sexual abstinence as the most effective method of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
• Pushes back the State Board of Education's deadline to finalize the minimum course of study to August 1, 2027, and the local implementation deadline to July 1, 2028.
• Adds instruction on personal boundaries and responsibility in relationships to the required curriculum topics.

Local school boards and the State Board of Education, which must update sex education curricula; public school students in kindergarten through grade nine and beyond who receive this instruction; parents and legal guardians, who gain new written-choice and default-enrollment rights; and the Department of Public Health, which helps develop course content.

Georgia families would see changes to what their children are taught about sex, relationships, and HIV prevention, with a legal requirement that the material be scientifically accurate. Parents in districts with multiple course options would need to actively choose a course or their child would default into abstinence-based instruction.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-143 to add subsection (a) defining 'medically accurate' as based on sound scientific evidence, accepted medical knowledge, and reputable medical authorities.
• New subsection (a.1) requires local boards to prescribe an age-appropriate, medically accurate course of study covering personal boundaries, peer pressure, self-esteem, legal consequences of parenthood, and abstinence.
• New subsection (a.1)(2) requires districts offering multiple sex education courses to get written parental selection, with default enrollment in the abstinence-based course if no selection is made.
• New subsection (a.1)(3) requires comprehensive courses to emphasize abstinence as the most effective and safest method of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
• Subsection (b) requires the State Board's minimum course of study to include age-appropriate, medically accurate content on human biology, sexually transmitted infections, and legal consequences of parenthood, plus annual sexual abuse and assault prevention instruction for kindergarten through grade nine.
• Subsection (c) moves the State Board's implementation deadline from July 1, 1988 to August 1, 2027, and the local board deadline from July 1, 1989 to July 1, 2028.
• New subsection (e) requires all curricula under this section to emphasize sexual abstinence as the best method of optimizing student health.
• Subsection (d) preserves parents' existing right to opt their child out of sex education instruction in writing.

1. 2026-03-06House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-04House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-03House Hopper (House)

• Will Wade (R, HD-009)Primary sponsor
• Sandy Donatucci (R, HD-105)
• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)
• Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)

• sex education
• HIV prevention
• public schools
• parental rights
• health curriculum