Recess May Become Mandatory in Florida Schools

A group of Central Florida mothers who want to see recess become a normal part of the elementary school day may soon get their wish.

Republican lawmakers have filed bills in both the state House and Senate that would make 20-minutes of free play a day mandatory. State Rep. Rene Plasenica of Orlando and Sen. Alan Hayes of Umatilla have both filed bills.

Plasencia, who is an educator by trade, filed his bill in the House on Dec. 2. It calls for “100 minutes of supervised, safe, and unstructured free-play recess” weekly for kids in kindergarten through the fifth grade. It would also apply to sixth-graders in schools that also contain one or more elementary grade.

See Also:

• Florida Mom Fights for Recess in Schools

“Free-play recess may not be withheld for academic or punitive reasons,” the bill reads. The Senate version of the bill has similar language.

It approved, the new law would go into effect July 1, 2016.

A lack of a uniform recess policy across the state made headlines earlier this year when a Polk County mother began a petition requesting 20 minutes recess daily. The petition garnered hundreds of signatures.

What are your thoughts on this? Should kids have recess? Tell us what you think by commenting below!

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