22-1-104.7. Teaching of Holocaust and genocide studies - definitions

22-1-104.7. Teaching of Holocaust and genocide studies - definitions. (1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Genocide" means any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group:

(I) Killing members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group;

(II) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group;

(III) Deliberately inflicting on a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(IV) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group; or

(V) Forcibly transferring children of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group to another group.

(b) "Holocaust" means the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews and five million individuals targeted for their religion, disability, or identity by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

(c) "Holocaust and genocide studies" means studies on the Holocaust, genocide, and other acts of mass violence, including but not limited to the Armenian Genocide.

(2) (a) For school years beginning on or after July 1, 2023, each school district board of education and charter school shall incorporate the standards on Holocaust and genocide studies developed by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1005 (2.7) into an existing course that is currently a condition of high school graduation.

(b) The provisions of subsection (2)(a) of this section applies only if the standards are adopted by the state board on or before July 1, 2023.

(3) A school district or charter school may utilize the resource bank created pursuant to section 22-2-127.3 or other alternative programs or materials to implement the provisions of this section. Any programs or materials used in teaching Holocaust and genocide studies must represent best practices and be developed using input from experts in the area of Holocaust and genocide studies.