Complete Bill History



Senate File 93       


                                          SENATE FILE       
                                          BY  McCOY


       Passed Senate, Date               Passed House,  Date             
       Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                    Approved                            

                                         A BILL FOR

     1 An Act relating to the physical education requirements for grades
     2    nine through twelve under the educational standards for school
     3    districts and accredited nonpublic schools.
     4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
     5 TLSB 1697SS 82
     6 kh/es/88

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph g,
  1  2 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2007, is amended to read as
  1  3 follows:
  1  4    All students physically able shall be required to
  1  5 participate in physical education activities during each
  1  6 semester they are enrolled in school except as otherwise
  1  7 provided in this paragraph.  For purposes of this paragraph,
  1  8 "physical education activities" includes a minimum of thirty
  1  9 minutes per day, three school days per week, of activities
  1 10 designed to increase cardiovascular fitness.  A minimum of
  1 11 one=eighth one=quarter unit each semester is required.  A
  1 12 twelfth grade student who meets the requirements of this
  1 13 paragraph may be excused from the physical education
  1 14 requirement by the principal of the school in which the
  1 15 student is enrolled if the parent or guardian of the student
  1 16 requests in writing that the student be excused from the
  1 17 physical education requirement.  A student who wishes to be
  1 18 excused from the physical education requirement must be
  1 19 seeking to be excused in order to enroll in academic courses
  1 20 not otherwise available to the student, or be enrolled or
  1 21 participating in one of the following:
  1 22    Sec. 2.  Section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph g,
  1 23 subparagraph (2), Code 2007, is amended to read as follows:
  1 24    (2)  An organized and supervised athletic program which
  1 25 requires at least as much participation per week as one=eighth
  1 26 one=fourth unit of physical education.
  1 27    Sec. 3.  Section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph g,
  1 28 unnumbered paragraph 2, Code 2007, is amended to read as
  1 29 follows:
  1 30    Students in grades nine through eleven may be excused from
  1 31 the physical education requirement in order to enroll in
  1 32 academic courses not otherwise available to the student if the
  1 33 board of directors of the school district in which the school
  1 34 is located, or the authorities in charge of the school, if the
  1 35 school is a nonpublic school, determine that students from the
  2  1 school may be permitted to be excused from the physical
  2  2 education requirement.  A student may be excused by the
  2  3 principal of the school in which the student is enrolled, in
  2  4 consultation with the student's counselor, for up to one
  2  5 semester, trimester, or the equivalent of a semester or
  2  6 trimester, per year if the parent or guardian of the student
  2  7 requests in writing that the student be excused from the
  2  8 physical education requirement.  The student seeking to be
  2  9 excused from the physical education requirement must, at some
  2 10 time during the period for which the excuse is sought, be a
  2 11 participant in an organized and supervised athletic program
  2 12 which requires at least as much time of participation per week
  2 13 as one=eighth one=fourth unit of physical education.
  2 14    Sec. 4.  STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED.  In accordance
  2 15 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring
  2 16 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall
  2 17 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid
  2 18 received by the school district under section 257.16.  This
  2 19 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed
  2 20 to meet all the state funding=related requirements of section
  2 21 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding shall be
  2 22 necessary for the full implementation of this Act by and
  2 23 enforcement of this Act against all affected school districts.
  2 24                           EXPLANATION
  2 25    This bill increases the physical education unit requirement
  2 26 from one=eighth unit per semester to one=quarter, or from 50
  2 27 minutes per week to 100 minutes per week, for grades nine
  2 28 through 12.  The bill also provides that "physical education
  2 29 activities", which all physically able students who do not
  2 30 qualify for an exemption must participate in, includes a
  2 31 minimum of 30 minutes per day, three school days per week, of
  2 32 activities designed to increase cardiovascular fitness.
  2 33    Rules adopted by the state board currently provide that
  2 34 physical fitness activities include activities that increase
  2 35 cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and flexibility;
  3  1 sports and games; tumbling and gymnastics; rhythms and dance;
  3  2 water safety; leisure and lifetime activities.
  3  3    This bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
  3  4 section 25B.3.
  3  5 LSB 1697SS 82
  3  6 kh:sc/es/88