Senate OKs mandatory recess bill

school recess

Recess scored a big win the Senate, but the proposal faces an uphill climb in the House.

The Senate voted 36-0 to approve a bill (SB 78) that would require school districts provide students in kindergarten through fifth grade with 20 minutes of recess each day. The vote marks a big milestone in the Senate, which just last year refused to hear to hear a similar proposal.

But the Senate proposal is significantly different than one moving through the House, and Sen. Anitere Flores, the Miami Republican sponsoring the Senate bill, said she hoped the Senate would send a message to House with its vote.

“The Senate feels strongly … if we’re going to have recess, it’s going to be recess. It should not be in competition with other things,” she said. “Recess should be able to stand on its own.”

The House proposal (HB 67) calls on school boards to include free-play recess for students in kindergarten through third grade as part of 150 minutes per week of physical education requirement. It also requires school districts to provide 20 minutes of recess on days when physical education classes aren’t held.

The House proposal originally mirrored the bill passed by the Senate, but was amended during its first committee stop. That proposal now heads to the PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee.

Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster



#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories