Rep. Antonio Highlights the Organ Donation Curriculum

Beginning this 2017-2018 school year, high school students in Ohio and our community will learn about organ donation in their health curriculum.

High school students will be getting their driver’s licenses and be asked if they want to register to be an organ donor. Recognizing that many people do not understand what the question involves, the donation curriculum will provide Ohio’s students with the knowledge and understanding needed to make an educated decision about becoming a registered donor.

Last General Assembly, I co-sponsored and the legislature passed House Bill 438 which included a provision that requires each school district to include instruction surrounding the process of making an anatomical gift in the district’s health curriculum. The law required the Second Chance Trust Fund to submit recommendations to the Department of Education by July 1, 2017. Since then, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) published the recommendations on their website. In addition, ODE has also made additional resources available to school districts to assist with their instruction.

The knowledge a student will come away with from this curriculum will allow them to make an educated decision on organ donation. This vitally important decision can save lives, the lives of over 3,400 Ohioans that are currently awaiting a life-saving transplant.

To read the curriculum, please visit http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Learning-in-Ohio/Health-Education.