S330, An An Relative to Physical and Social Recess in Schools
This bill would mandate recess for all children in grades kindergarten to fifth grade in all public schools in the Commonwealth. Specifically, this bill would require that children receive 100 minutes of unstructured, supervised, safe recess each week and that children receive at least twenty consecutive minutes of free-play recess per day.
S330 is sponsored by Senator Michael Rush. The House version of this bill, H454, An act providing for mandatory recess time in elementary schools, is sponsored by Representative Paul Frost.
S330 was heard in front of the Joint Committee on Education on September 4th. It will have to work its way through the committee process.
More information, including the text of the bill, can be found here: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S330
Similar legislation was filed in previous legislative sessions. During the 2017-2018 legislative session, S308/H235 were filed to mandate recess. The Joint Committee on Education redrafted a new version of the bill, H4391, which was reported to the House Ways and Means. No further action was taken on the bill. During the 2015-2016 legislation session, H3393 was filed to mandate recess, and after being heard in front of the Joint Committee on Education, no further actions were taken on the bills during that legislative session.
This text seems like a good start, but it would be helpful to make it read “at least” or “no fewer than 100 minutes per week.” I would also love to see it include specifics to prevent the use of recess time — specifically the loss of it — for administrative, disciplinary, or academic purposes.