Full Text of HB5397 98th General Assembly
HB5397eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Regular physical activity is associated with a | 3 | | healthier, longer life and a lower risk of cardiovascular | 4 | | disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and some | 5 | | cancers; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Physical activity offers young people many health | 7 | | benefits, including improved aerobic endurance and muscular | 8 | | strength, better weight control, and the opportunity to build | 9 | | lean muscle and bone mass and reduce fat; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Physically fit children have higher scholastic | 11 | | achievement, better classroom behavior, a greater ability to | 12 | | focus, and less absenteeism than their physically unfit | 13 | | counterparts;
and | 14 | | WHEREAS, One important way to stop this rise in childhood | 15 | | obesity is by establishing lifelong physical activity habits | 16 | | with strong physical education programs and regular physical | 17 | | activity opportunities in our nation's schools, both during and | 18 | | outside of the regular school day; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, The Enhance Physical Education Task Force, | 20 | | established by Public Act 97-1102, recommended enhancing | 21 | | physical education to increase the amount of time students | 22 | | spend in moderate to vigorous physical activity, with an |
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| 1 | | emphasis on fitness, skill-building, and cooperation; | 2 | | therefore
| 3 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 4 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 5 | | Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section | 6 | | 27-6.5 as follows: | 7 | | (105 ILCS 5/27-6.5 new) | 8 | | Sec. 27-6.5. Physical fitness assessments in schools. | 9 | | (a) As used in this Section, "physical fitness assessment" | 10 | | means a series of assessments to measure aerobic capacity, body | 11 | | composition, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and | 12 | | flexibility. | 13 | | (b) To measure the effectiveness of State Goal 20 of the | 14 | | Illinois Learning Standards for Physical Development and | 15 | | Health, the State Board of Education shall require all public | 16 | | schools to use, during the 2016-2017 school year and every | 17 | | school year thereafter, a physical fitness assessment and | 18 | | report fitness information to the State Board of Education, as | 19 | | set forth in subsection (e) of this Section, to assess student | 20 | | fitness indicators. | 21 | | Public schools shall integrate health-related fitness | 22 | | testing into the curriculum as an instructional tool, except in | 23 | | the early elementary grades. Fitness tests must be appropriate |
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| 1 | | to students' developmental levels and physical abilities. The | 2 | | testing must be used to teach students how to assess their | 3 | | fitness levels, set goals for improvement, and monitor progress | 4 | | in reaching their goals. | 5 | | (c) On or before October 1, 2014, the State Superintendent | 6 | | of Education shall appoint a 15-member stakeholder and expert | 7 | | task force, including members representing organizations that | 8 | | represent physical education teachers, school officials, | 9 | | principals, health promotion and disease prevention advocates | 10 | | and experts, school health advocates and experts, and other | 11 | | experts with operational and academic expertise in the | 12 | | measurement of fitness. The task force shall make | 13 | | recommendations to the State Board of Education on the | 14 | | following: | 15 | | (1) protocols for implementing a physical fitness | 16 | | assessment in all public schools, including how often | 17 | | physical fitness assessments must occur and how physical | 18 | | fitness assessments must be conducted; | 19 | | (2) how often physical fitness assessment data must be | 20 | | aggregated and reported to the State Board of Education; | 21 | | and | 22 | | (3) how physical fitness assessment data must be | 23 | | reported to the public, including potential correlations | 24 | | with student academic achievement, attendance, and | 25 | | discipline data, and recommended uses of the reported data. | 26 | | The State Board of Education shall provide administrative |
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| 1 | | and other support to the task force. | 2 | | The task force shall submit its recommendations on physical | 3 | | fitness assessments on or before April 1, 2015. The task force | 4 | | may also recommend protocols for assessing student progress on | 5 | | State Goals 19 and 21 through 24 of the Illinois Learning | 6 | | Standards for Physical Development and Health. The task force | 7 | | is dissolved on April 30, 2015. | 8 | | The provisions of this subsection (c), other than this | 9 | | sentence, are inoperative after March 31, 2016. | 10 | | (d) On or before October 1, 2015, the State Board of | 11 | | Education shall use the recommendations of the task force under | 12 | | subsection (c) of this Section to adopt rules for the | 13 | | implementation of physical fitness assessments by each public | 14 | | school for the 2016-2017 school year and every school year | 15 | | thereafter. | 16 | | (e) On or before September 1, 2016, the State Board of | 17 | | Education shall, by rule, develop a system for collecting and | 18 | | reporting the aggregated fitness information from the physical | 19 | | fitness assessments. This system shall also support the | 20 | | collection of data from school districts that use a fitness | 21 | | testing software program. | 22 | | (f) School districts may report the aggregate findings of | 23 | | physical fitness assessments by grade level and school to | 24 | | parents and members of the community through typical | 25 | | communication channels, such as Internet websites, school | 26 | | newsletters, school board reports, and presentations. |
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| 1 | | (g) Nothing in this Section precludes schools from | 2 | | implementing a physical fitness assessment before the | 3 | | 2016-2017 school year or from implementing more robust forms of | 4 | | a physical fitness assessment.
| 5 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 6 | | becoming law.
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