What is Self, Health, and Relationship Education (SHaRE), and why is my child's IEP team discussing it?

You recently may have encountered an unexpected discussion about sexual health, self-restraint, self-protection, respect for personal privacy, and the personal boundaries at your child’s IEP meeting. This is a new area that Virginia schools must now discuss when developing each student’s annual IEP.

Back in 2020 the Virginia General Assembly passed a law requiring the Virginia Department of Education (“VDOE”) to develop “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.” VDOE promulgated the Self, Health, and Relationship Education (“SHaRE”) guidelines in May 2024. In addition, VDOE issued a considerations worksheet that IEP teams can use while discussing this topic.