Key Points in Arkansas State Standards
There is currently no law requiring recess time for children, although Representative Lindsley Smith of Fayetteville has introduced and passed HR 1023, urging school districts to provide a mid-morning and mid-afternoon recess to children grades K-6.
Instructional Time: This is discussed in Section 10 of the Arkansas Rules for Accreditation (standards_may05.pdf), specifically section 10.01 The requirement that each school day include 6 hours of instructional time is item no. 10.01.4 and states:
“The planned instructional time in each school day shall not average less than six (6) hours per day or thirty (30) hours per week”
Physical Exercise Requirements: This is discussed in Section 9.0 of the Rules Governing Nutrition and Physical Activity Standards in Arkansas Public Schools (Final_Rule_Nut_Phys_Act.doc). Section 9.01 of these Rules read
9.01 Public schools must establish strategies to achieve thirty (30) minutes of physical activity each day in grades K-12 and must have begun implementation of those strategies before the end of the 2005-2006 school year.
Further on, section 9.05 reads as follows:
9.05 Beginning in the 2007-2008 school year, the Arkansas Department of Education will devise and implement standards regarding the amount of instructional time to be devoted to various curriculum components, to ensure that
9.05.1 Elementary 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.
Note that, for elementary students, recess periods are included as counting towards physical activity. Also these rules, as written, support recess by demanding that there be 30 minutes of physical activity EACH DAY (sec 9.01 says nothing about averages). However, subsequently a memo (LS-06-078) was issued altering the rules.
The purpose of this Commissioner’s Memo is to provide clarification and guidance concerning the Rules Governing Nutrition and Physical Activity Standards in Arkansas Public Schools (Act 1220 of 2003)(Rules). Following legislative review, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) convened a Physical Activity Advisory Committee focusing on guidance regarding the implementation of the Physical Activity Standards. This memo is to provide guidance, concerning Sections 9.01 and 9.05 of the Rules. Specifically, school districts should assure that students receive either 30 minutes per day or 150 minutes per week of acceptable physical activity, beginning with the 2006-2007 school year. Attached is a list of physical activity recommended options, which the ADE has agreed, are acceptable physical activities. Also attached is a Sample Parent-District Verification Form for those acceptable physical activities occurring after the school day. The ADE and school district will monitor compliance of the above Sections of the Rules through each district’s Wellness Policy written assurance statement.
This memo directs schools to follow either sec 9.01 (which demands 30 minutes per day) or sec 9.05.1 (which demands only 150 minutes per week), although the rules as written clearly do not imply that either rule is optional (note that sec 9.05.1 is not redundant because some schools follow a four day school week). The 150 minutes per week can be met by scheduling long PE periods on certain days, which vitiates the meaning of the original guidelines, allowing most schools days to pass with little or no physical activity.
Passing Time:
Arkansas State Legislators
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Education Committee - House
Representative Benny Petrus
Representative Jeff Wood
Representative Sid Rosenbaum
Representative Betty Pickett
Representative James Norton
Representative Janet Johnson
Representative Tommy Dickinson
Representative Shirley Walters
Representative Eric Harris
Representative Michael Lamoureux
Representative Curren Everett
Representative Nancy Duffy Blount
Representative Mark Martin
Representative Rick Saunders
Representative David Rainey
Representative David Cook
Representative Eddie Cheatham
Representative Toni Bradford
Education Committee - Senate
Senator Gilbert Baker
Senator Jimmy Jeffress
Senator Steve Bryles
Senator Kim Hendren
Senator Shane Broadway
Senator Gene Jeffress
NWA Legislators
Senator Sue Madison
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.