In December 2018, DC Council passed legislation to ensure students in DC public schools will soon have more time for play and physical activity, which support academic, social and emotional learning and healthy development. Multi-year efforts by the Redstone Center played a key role in this local public health victory. The Healthy Students Amendments Act (HSAA), introduced by Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Charles Allen, makes a number of improvements related to school time physical activity that were identified since passage of the 2010 Healthy Schools Act (HSA), also introduced by Councilmember Cheh. The new legislation mandates that all students receive at least one 20-minute bout of daily recess. It establishes age-appropriate daily physical activity of 60 to 90 minutes for Pre-K students where such guidelines for the District's youngest students were notably missing. It provides support and professional development for teachers and staff to incorporate physical activity into the classroom. The legislation also addresses challenges with implementation of physical education (PE) class requirements by creating a new minimum requirement of PE minutes and a non-punitive process by which schools create action plans and receive support from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education to meet the requirements. Read the full story with legislation details here.
With Redstone Center Support, New Legislation Passes to Increase Physical Activity for DC Students
June 7, 2019
