Public Act 098-0859
 
HB5397 EnrolledLRB098 18839 OMW 53984 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    WHEREAS, Regular physical activity is associated with a
healthier, longer life and a lower risk of cardiovascular
disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and some
cancers; and
 
    WHEREAS, Physical activity offers young people many health
benefits, including improved aerobic endurance and muscular
strength, better weight control, and the opportunity to build
lean muscle and bone mass and reduce fat; and
 
    WHEREAS, Physically fit children have higher scholastic
achievement, better classroom behavior, a greater ability to
focus, and less absenteeism than their physically unfit
counterparts; and
 
    WHEREAS, One important way to stop this rise in childhood
obesity is by establishing lifelong physical activity habits
with strong physical education programs and regular physical
activity opportunities in our nation's schools, both during and
outside of the regular school day; and
 
    WHEREAS, The Enhance Physical Education Task Force,
established by Public Act 97-1102, recommended enhancing
physical education to increase the amount of time students
spend in moderate to vigorous physical activity, with an
emphasis on fitness, skill-building, and cooperation;
therefore
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
27-6.5 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27-6.5 new)
    Sec. 27-6.5. Physical fitness assessments in schools.
    (a) As used in this Section, "physical fitness assessment"
means a series of assessments to measure aerobic capacity, body
composition, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and
flexibility.
    (b) To measure the effectiveness of State Goal 20 of the
Illinois Learning Standards for Physical Development and
Health, beginning with the 2016-2017 school year and every
school year thereafter, the State Board of Education shall
require all public schools to use a scientifically-based,
health-related physical fitness assessment for grades 3
through 12 and periodically report fitness information to the
State Board of Education, as set forth in subsections (c) and
(e) of this Section, to assess student fitness indicators.
    Public schools shall integrate health-related fitness
testing into the curriculum as an instructional tool, except in
grades before the 3rd grade. Fitness tests must be appropriate
to students' developmental levels and physical abilities. The
testing must be used to teach students how to assess their
fitness levels, set goals for improvement, and monitor progress
in reaching their goals. Fitness scores shall not be used for
grading students or evaluating teachers.
    (c) On or before October 1, 2014, the State Superintendent
of Education shall appoint a 15-member stakeholder and expert
task force, including members representing organizations that
represent physical education teachers, school officials,
principals, health promotion and disease prevention advocates
and experts, school health advocates and experts, and other
experts with operational and academic expertise in the
measurement of fitness. The task force shall make
recommendations to the State Board of Education on the
following:
        (1) methods for ensuring the validity and uniformity of
    reported physical fitness assessment scores, including
    assessment administration protocols and professional
    development approaches for physical education teachers;
        (2) how often physical fitness assessment scores
    should be reported to the State Board of Education;
        (3) the grade levels within elementary, middle, and
    high school categories for which physical fitness
    assessment scores should be reported to the State Board of
    Education;
        (4) the minimum fitness indicators that should be
    reported to the State Board of Education, including, but
    not limited to, a score for aerobic capacity (for grades 4
    through 12); muscular strength; endurance; and
    flexibility;
        (5) the demographic information that should accompany
    the scores, including, but not limited to, grade and
    gender;
        (6) the development of protocols regarding the
    protection of students' confidentiality and individual
    information and identifiers; and
        (7) how physical fitness assessment data should be
    reported by the State Board of Education to the public,
    including potential correlations with student academic
    achievement, attendance, and discipline data and other
    recommended uses of the reported data.
    The State Board of Education shall provide administrative
and other support to the task force.
    The task force shall submit its recommendations on physical
fitness assessments on or before April 1, 2015. The task force
may also recommend methods for assessing student progress on
State Goals 19 and 21 through 24 of the Illinois Learning
Standards for Physical Development and Health. The task force
is dissolved on April 30, 2015.
    The provisions of this subsection (c), other than this
sentence, are inoperative after March 31, 2016.
    (d) On or before December 31, 2015, the State Board of
Education shall use the recommendations of the task force under
subsection (c) of this Section to adopt rules for the
implementation of physical fitness assessments by each public
school for the 2016-2017 school year and every school year
thereafter.
    (e) On or before September 1, 2016, the State Board of
Education shall adopt rules for data submission by school
districts and develop a system for collecting and reporting the
aggregated fitness information from the physical fitness
assessments. This system shall also support the collection of
data from school districts that use a fitness testing software
program.
    (f) School districts may report the aggregate findings of
physical fitness assessments by grade level and school to
parents and members of the community through typical
communication channels, such as Internet websites, school
newsletters, school board reports, and presentations.
Districts may also provide individual fitness assessment
reports to students' parents.
    (g) Nothing in this Section precludes schools from
implementing a physical fitness assessment before the
2016-2017 school year or from implementing more robust forms of
a physical fitness assessment.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.