Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Legislative News and Views - Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R)

Back to profile

Legislative Update from Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen

Friday, February 26, 2021

Dear Neighbors,

On Wednesday, the Preventative Health Policy Division heard a bill in committee that would change sex education in Minnesota’s schools. 

You can watch back the committee hearing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVowuWb4SbI 

I have received hundreds of emails from folks back in our area that strongly oppose this bill. House File 358 would require school districts and charter schools to provide sexual health education using a model program designed by the Department of Education and supported by Planned Parenthood our nation’s largest abortion provider.

The bill would also require school districts that opt to develop sex education standards locally to apply to the Education Commissioner for approval.

This legislation is unnecessary and redundant to current law requiring school districts to provide a program to prevent and reduce the risks of sexually transmitted infections and diseases using a comprehensive, technically accurate and updated curriculum. I offered an amendment that would require the sex Ed curriculum to follow current state law 121A.23 which states “ technically accurate, and updated curriculum that includes helping students to abstain from sexual activity until marriage”. It was rejected by all committee DFLers. With many STDs incurable the message of state law is more important than ever.

Further, current state law delegates the development and adoption of health standards to local school districts. This proposal would usurp that local control with an unfunded mandate that essentially overrides the local curriculum development process.

I am also concerned about handing our sex education curriculum over to radical organizations like Planned Parenthood and others.

For something as serious as sex education, we must maintain local control for school boards, parents, and teachers to decide what is best for their children.

I will continue to oppose this harmful legislation and plan to keep you updated on it as it moves through the legislative process.

Staying in Touch

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me to share your thoughts, questions, and concerns as it relates to state government. I can be reached at 651-296-4229 or via email at rep.glenn.gruenhagen@house.mn.

Have a great day,

Glenn