This sex-ed poster from Hocker Grove Middle School in Shawnee has inspired legislation that would require districts to receive written permission from parents before students would be allowed to take part in sex education classes.

Topeka ? Kansas lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow teachers and school administrators to be prosecuted for presenting material perceived as harmful to minors.

The bill, which is sponsored by State Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, and passed the Senate last year, was considered in a House committee Tuesday. Currently, state law protects school officials against the misdemeanor charge of presenting harmful material to minors if it’s part of a lesson. The proposed legislation would remove that protection for teachers at public, private and parochial schools. Teachers would face a fine or up to six months in jail if convicted.

Stemming from a 2014 Shawnee Mission school district incident, the controversy erupted after a parent complained about a poster used as a visual aid in teaching students at Hocker Grove Middle School about human sexuality. Under the heading “How do people express their sexual feelings?”, the poster listed oral sex, “grinding” and other acts.

School district officials said the poster was a supplemental visual aid meant to be used in the context of classroom discussions on human sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases. The poster was a supporting component of new curriculum, called “Making a Difference,” district spokeswoman Leigh Anne Neal said at the time, noting human sexuality was part of health classes taught at middle schools in Shawnee Mission.

The poster was taken down following the complaint.

Pilcher-Cook said she developed the House and Senate bills after the poster was brought to her attention by concerned constituents. The poster was put up without parents’ knowledge, she said.

“Parents should be given full information about what their children are being taught on a very sensitive subject,” she said. “I will be working with school officials to ensure that happens, and I am relieved to hear the Shawnee Mission school district is doing a comprehensive review of the sexual education material.”

In the district, Neal said, parents can opt their child out of the human sexuality portion of health classes by simply contacting the school and filling out a form. They can also review the teaching materials beforehand, she said.

At Tuesday’s House committee meeting, Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, asked whether a teacher could be prosecuted for a lesson including an image of Michelangelo’s David, which depicts male genitalia, or sexual puns in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” according to the Wichita Eagle.

In response, Pilcher-Cook pointed to a section of the bill that says harmful material would be defined as material “a reasonable person would find … lacks serious literary, scientific, educational, artistic or political value.” She conceded it would be up to individual prosecutors and juries to make that determination.

The bill also would deter teachers from using inappropriate material in the classroom, according to Pilcher-Cook, who said the fact that the poster was “posted without fear is a problem in and of itself.”

Tom Witt, a gay-rights activist who testified against the bill on behalf of his husband who’s a public school teacher, believes the bill is meant “to strike fear into the hearts of teachers.”

“Here’s what my husband wants to know: Which of the books on the list are going to send him to jail?” Witt said. “That’s all we need to know.”