Recess

(l) The State Board of Education, after consulting with educators, parents, and medical professionals, by rule may require a student enrolled in kindergarten or a grade level below grade nine to participate in daily physical activity as part of a school district's physical education curriculum or through structured activity during a school campus's daily recess, except that the board may not require more than 30 minutes of daily physical activity. If the board adopts rules under this subsection, the board must ensure by rule that students enrolled in middle and junior high school settings are allowed to meet the physical activity requirement by participating in physical activity twice each week throughout the school year or the option to schedule at least two semesters overall. If the board adopts rules under this subsection, the board must provide for an exemption for: (1) any student who is unable to participate in daily physical activity because of illness or disability; and (2) a middle school or junior high school student who participates in an extracurricular activity with a physical activity component that is considered a structured activity under rules adopted by the State Board of Education. (l-1) In adopting rules relating to an activity described by Subsection (l)(2), the State Board of Education may permit an exemption for a student who participates in a school-related activity or an activity sponsored by a private league or club only if the student provides proof of participation in the activity. (l-2) To encourage school districts to promote physical activity for children through classroom curricula for health and physical education, the agency, in consultation with the Department of State Health Services, shall designate nationally recognized health and physical education program guidelines that a school district may use in the health curriculum under Subsection (a)(2)(B) or the physical education curriculum under Subsection

Why Do We Advocate On Behalf Of Recess? by Daniel Kennefick

But it is important not to lose sight of the fact that recess itself plays a critical role in the education of our children, a role which it cannot play when it is reduced to one brief break daily.

As far as I can tell the main argument against expanding recess is not the instructional time requirement, but that there simply is not enough time in the school day to cover the curriculum and include more than 15 minutes of recess. This viewpoint simply fails to recognize the importance of recess

1Elementary students in grades K-6 will receive at a minimum a total of 150 minutes per week of physical activity. The 150 minutes shall include 60 minutes of scheduled physical education.

The additional physical activities may include additional scheduled physical education classes, physical activity during the regular school day through activities such as daily recess periods, walking programs, intramurals, and the integration of physical activity into the academic curriculum.

Former Representative Lindsley Smith of Fayetteville has introduced and passed House Resolution HR1023, urging school district administrators to provide 2 recesses per day to students grades K-6.    Current Arkansas State law requires 6 hours of instructional time daily for all students, regardless of age, making it challenging for local educators to schedule two recess periods per day. Until recently, the law mandated only 5.5 hours of instructional time, and we feel strongly that this requirement should be re-established at the elementary level. 

Some states have enacted legislation to implement a minimum amount of time for physical activity during the school day.

Other school districts have a written policy stating that teachers cannot take away physical activity as a form of punishment but do not specifically refer to recess as physical activity.