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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate Bill 172 Requires K-6 Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Instruction
Last action · February 5, 2026: Subcommittee recommends passage.Sponsor: Jeff Taylor
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 172 requires all Iowa school districts, s, charter schools, and s to provide child sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention instruction to students in kindergarten through grade six. The bill directs the Department of Education to develop model guidelines for this instruction and mandates that continuing education for educator license renewals may include training on the topic.
Schools across Iowa must update their kindergarten through sixth-grade curricula to incorporate mandated child sexual abuse prevention instruction consistent with state guidelines, funded through existing .
- Senate File 172 is a legislative proposal introduced in the Iowa Senate during the 2025 session focusing on child sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention education in schools. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
school districts
School districts must provide mandatory K-6 instruction on child sexual abuse prevention consistent with state model guidelines and fund compliance using existing state school foundation aid.
kindergarten through grade six students
Students in kindergarten through grade six receive instruction on child sexual abuse awareness, prevention, safe and unsafe touch, and reporting procedures.
educators
Educators seeking license, certificate, or authorization renewals face new continuing education rules that may include training on child sexual abuse prevention.
Key Facts
- School districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools must provide child sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention instruction to kindergarten through grade six students.
- The Department of Education director must develop and distribute model guidelines for K-6 instruction covering safe touch, unsafe touch, reporting incidents, and recognizing abuse.
- Instructional materials must cover verbal, physical, and visual sexual harassment, nonconsensual sexual advances, and internet safety.
- The Board of Educational Examiners is required to adopt rules establishing continuing education requirements for license renewals that may include in-service training on sexual abuse prevention.
Show all 5 facts
- The state cost of any mandate in the bill is paid by school districts from state school foundation aid received under section 257.16, with no additional state funding provided.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which grade levels are required to receive the prevention instruction?
Who develops the guidelines for the school instruction?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
14 actions- Feb 5, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 3, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/04/2026 4:30PM Room 315.
- Jan 15, 2026SenateSubcommittee reassigned: Taylor, Gruenhagen, and Trone Garriott. S.J. 106 .
- Jan 15, 2026Iowa Legislature* * * * * END OF 2025 ACTIONS * * * * *
- Jun 16, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Education. S.J. 1057 .
- Mar 5, 2025SenateAmendment S-3017 filed. S.J. 426 .
Show 8 earlier actions
- Mar 4, 2025Iowa LegislaturePlaced on calendar.
- Mar 4, 2025SenateCommittee report, recommending amendment and passage. S.J. 406 .
- Feb 20, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 13, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/20/2025 1:00PM Room 315.
- Feb 11, 2025HouseSponsor added, Croken. H.J. 286 .
- Feb 10, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee: Taylor, Gruenhagen, and Trone Garriott.
- Feb 6, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Education. H.J. 254 .
- Jan 30, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Education. S.J. 168 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory K-6 Prevention Curriculum
The legislation shifts guidelines into a strict statutory requirement for school districts, charter schools, innovation zone schools, and nonpublic schools to teach child sexual abuse awareness in early grades.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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