Sexual Health Education

Contact Information

Sexual Health Education

Laurie Dils

360-725-6364

OSPI provides technical assistance, resources, training, and support to schools to promote best practices in comprehensive sexual health education, including HIV/AIDS prevention that are consistent with state requirements.

All public schools must provide comprehensive sexual health education (CSHE) to all students. This includes all students enrolled in a district or public charter school. Instruction must be consistent with Health Education K-12 Learning Standards, which provide a framework for comprehensive instruction, and the provisions of RCW 28A.300.475. CSHE for students in grades 4-12 is defined in the law as "recurring instruction in human development and reproduction that is medically accurate, age-appropriate and inclusive of all students...using language and strategies that recognize all protected classes." Instruction for students in grades Kindergarten-3 is defined in the law as Social-Emotional Learning.

See our CSHE Implementation page for more information.

Washington state law requires annual HIV/AIDS prevention education beginning in grade 5, in accordance with the AIDS Omnibus Act. For information about resources and related instructional materials, please visit OSPI's Resources and Instructional Materials webpages. 

Sexual Violence Prevention

Given the impact of sexual violence on young people, schools are an important setting for recognizing and preventing sexual violence and child sexual abuse. OSPI engages in activities that support school-based sexual violence prevention within sexual health education and more broadly throughout school communities including: 

School Health Profiles

School Health Profiles is a survey conducted in Washington state every two years by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to assess the status of health and wellness-related policies, procedures, instruction, and environments in public secondary schools. The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Adolescent School Health (DASH) coordinates the survey.