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S. 124
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Short, Hutto and Ford
Document Path: l:\council\bills\pt\2221sj05.doc
Introduced in the Senate on January 11, 2005
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Education
Summary: K-8 physical education requirements
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12/15/2004 Senate Prefiled 12/15/2004 Senate Referred to Committee on Education 1/11/2005 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-144 1/11/2005 Senate Referred to Committee on Education SJ-144 4/21/2005 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment Education SJ-8 4/25/2005 Scrivener's error corrected 5/18/2005 Senate Recommitted to Committee on Education SJ-52
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/15/2004
4/21/2005
4/25/2005
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
COMMITTEE REPORT
April 21, 2005
S. 124
S. Printed 4/21/05--S. [SEC 4/25/05 10:57 AM]
Read the first time January 11, 2005.
To whom was referred a Bill (S. 124) to amend Section 59-29-80, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to courses in physical education, to provide in accordance with adopted South Carolina, etc., respectfully
That they have duly and carefully considered the same and recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. (A) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) South Carolina ranks tenth in the United States for the number of overweight and obese people;
(2) the number of overweight children in South Carolina has tripled since the 1960's;
(3) South Carolina ranks first in the number of strokes, third in heart disease, and tenth in diabetes;
(4) regular physical activity helps to improve strength and endurance, prevents obesity and controls body weight, helps build healthy bones and muscles, and reduces anxiety and stress;
(5) newly completed research shows a significant relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness; and
(6) according to a national report, for the first time in one hundred years the current generation of people will have a shorter life span than the previous generation due to a sedentary lifestyle.
(B) The General Assembly further finds that a child's health impacts his school attendance, readiness to learn, potential learning, and achievement. In this regard, the General Assembly believes that each public elementary school in this State should have a full-time school nurse in order to:
(1) prevent disease by teaching and encouraging healthy lifestyles and habits that have lifelong implications for children and their families;
(2) provide valuable health services, including administering medications and care management necessary for those students who have chronic or episodic health conditions and disabilities; and
(3) care for students who incur injuries at school including injuries that require medical attention.
SECTION 2. This act may be cited as the Students Health and Fitness Act of 2005.
SECTION 3. Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 59-10-10. In accordance with adopted South Carolina Physical Education Curriculum Standards, beginning in school year 2005-2006, students in kindergarten through fifth grade must be provided a minimum of one hundred fifty minutes a week of physical education and physical activity. At least sixty minutes a week of the one hundred fifty minutes must be structured, developmentally appropriate, health enhancing physical education that allows for interactive behavior and promotes motor skill development. A certified physical education teacher shall plan these structured activities. Noncertified or supervised adult volunteers may assist in implementing or supervising these structured physical activities if approved by the district superintendent. If volunteers are used, appropriate liability insurance must be provided. Beginning in school year 2007-2008, at least ninety minutes a week of the one hundred fifty minutes must be structured, developmentally appropriate, health enhancing physical education that allows for interactive behavior and promotes motor skill development. In schools having dance education specialists, up to half of the required structured, developmentally appropriate, health enhancing physical activity that allows for interactive behavior and promotes motor skill development may be delivered through dance instruction based on the Healthful Living component of the South Carolina Dance Curriculum Standards and the dance component of the South Carolina Physical Education Standards. Active recess time may be used to satisfy the activity requirement.
Section 59-10-15. (A) The certified physical education teacher to student ratio is designed to provide students in kindergarten through fifth grade scheduled physical education.
(1) Beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, the student to certified physical education teacher ratio in the elementary schools of the State must be 700 to 1.
(2) Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, the student to certified physical education teacher ratio in the elementary schools of the State must be 600 to 1.
(3) Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, the student to certified physical education teacher ratio in the elementary schools of the State must be 500 to 1.
(B) Each district shall ensure that the schools in its district have age appropriate equipment and facilities to implement the physical education curriculum standards.
(C) A student may be exempted from these physical activity requirements by seeking a waiver as outlined in Section 59-29-80 (B).
Section 59-10-20. Physical fitness testing must be administered to students in grades four and five and the scores reported to the parents and guardians of each student.
Section 59-10-30. Appropriate professional development must be provided to teachers and volunteers on the importance of physical activity for young children and the relationship of activity to academic performance and healthy lifestyles.
Section 59-10-40. Each elementary school shall designate a physical education teacher to serve as its Physical Education Activity Director. The Physical Education Activity Director shall coordinate opportunities for additional physical activity for students and teachers that exceed the designated weekly student instruction times that may include, but not be limited to, before, during, and after school dance instruction, fitness trail programs, intramural programs, bicycling programs, walking programs, and activities designed to promote physical activity opportunities in the classroom. The director annually shall submit to the principal a report outlining the additional physical activities for students and teachers.
Section 59-10-50. Increased instruction in physical education pursuant to Section 59-10-10 is not to replace or reduce time dedicated to instruction in the arts taught by certified arts specialists.
Section 59-10-210. Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, the General Assembly, annually in the General Appropriations Act, shall appropriate funds to the Department of Education for providing licensed nurses for elementary public schools. The State Department of Education shall make these funds available through a grant program and shall distribute the funds to the local school districts on a per school basis.
Section 59-10-310. In an effort to promote optimal healthy eating patterns, the State Board of Education by policy shall establish requirements for elementary school food service meals and competitive foods based upon the recommendations outlined in the State Department of Education Task Force on Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Report, National School Lunch Act and the most recent applicable Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Section 59-10-320. The State Department of Education shall make available to each school district a coordinated school health model designed to address health issues of children. The program must provide for coordinating the following eight components: safe and healthy environment, physical education, health education, staff wellness, health services, nutrition services, guidance services, and parent and community involvement. The Department of Education shall notify each school district of the availability of professional development opportunities and provide technical assistance for implementing the coordinated school health model.
Section 59-10-330. (A) An elementary school may not provide to students at any time during the school day foods of minimal nutritional value except in the case of medical emergency and special occasions celebrated during school hours. However, this policy does not restrict the food that a parent or guardian may provide for his child's consumption at school. A school district board of trustees may adopt a more restrictive policy.
(B) Each elementary school shall remove food, soda, and carbonated vending machines from public areas. However, beverage vending machines selling only products that contain one hundred percent fruit juice, bottled water, and milk, and food vending machines selling only products that meet state and USDA guidelines as a healthy snack may be located in public areas.
Section 59-10-340. Each elementary school shall provide students a minimum of twenty minutes to eat lunch once they have received their food. In determining the total length of the lunch period, time to and from the cafeteria, time to go through the line, and time to bus trays at the end of lunch must be considered.
Section 59-10-350. Health curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grade must include a weekly nutrition component.
Section 59-10-360. Each phase of implementation of this chapter is contingent upon the appropriation of adequate funding as documented by the fiscal impact statement provided by the Office of State Budget of the State Budget and Control Board. There is no mandatory financial obligation to school districts if state funding is not appropriated for each phase of implementation as provided for in the fiscal impact statement of the Office of the State Budget of the State Budget and Control Board."
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
JOHN E. COURSON for Committee.
TO AMEND SECTION 59-29-80, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO COURSES IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION, TO PROVIDE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ADOPTED SOUTH CAROLINA PHYSICAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM STANDARDS, STUDENTS IN PRE-KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIFTH GRADE MUST BE PROVIDED A MINIMUM OF ONE HUNDRED FIFTY MINUTES A WEEK OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that:
(1) South Carolina ranks tenth in the United States for the number of overweight and obese people;
(2) the number of overweight children in South Carolina has tripled since the 1960's;
(3) South Carolina ranks first in the number of strokes, third in heart disease, and tenth in diabetes;
(4) regular physical activity helps to improve strength and endurance, prevents obesity and controls body weight, helps build healthy bones and muscles, and reduces anxiety and stress; and
(5) newly completed research shows a significant relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness.
SECTION 2. Section 59-29-80 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-29-80. (A) There shall be established and provided in all the public schools of this State physical education, training, and instruction of pupils of both sexes, and every pupil attending any school, in so far as he is physically fit and able to do so, shall take the course or courses provided by this section. Suitable modified courses shall be provided for students physically or mentally unable or unfit to take the course or courses prescribed for normal pupils. However, in any public school which offers a military or naval ROTC program sponsored by one of the military services of the United States, training in such a program may be deemed equivalent to physical education instruction, and may be accepted in lieu of such instruction for all purposes, academic or nonacademic, as may hereinafter be provided.
(B) In accordance with adopted South Carolina Physical Education Curriculum Standards, students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade must be provided a minimum of one hundred fifty minutes a week of physical education. At least seventy-five minutes a week of the one hundred fifty minutes must be developmentally appropriate, health enhancing physical activity that allows for interactive behavior and promotes motor skill development. These activities must be designated by a certified physical education coordinator. However, volunteers and parents to monitor and assist with these daily activities must be used until funding is appropriated to ensure a physical education coordinator to student ratio of one to three hundred. Unstructured recess time of seventy-five minutes a week may be used to satisfy the one hundred fifty minute-a-week requirement.
(B)(C) A student may be exempted from physical education requirements by seeking a waiver from the local school board of trustees. The local board may grant such a request based on the following criteria:
(1) The student must present a statement by his attending physician indicating that participation in physical education will jeopardize the student's health and well-being; or
(2)(a) The parent and student must show that the student's attending physical education classes will violate their religious beliefs and would not be merely a matter of personal objection; and
(b) the parent or student must be members of a recognized religious faith that objects to physical education as part of its official doctrine or creed.
The local board shall encourage the student to take, as an alternative to physical education, appropriate instruction in health education or other instruction in lifestyle modification if an exemption is granted pursuant to this section."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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