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The News & Observer
Apr 7, 2005
Student fitness may be the rule
Board may require 30 minutes a day
By TODD SILBERMAN, Staff Writer
Physical fitness will be added to the three R's in North Carolina elementary and middle schools under rules the State Board of Education is expected to approve today.
Students in kindergarten through eighth grade would be expected to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity each school day -- in their classroom, at recess or in other settings that would get kids up and moving.
Schools would have to comply with the requirement beginning possibly as early as the fall of 2006. Currently, schools are expected only to provide students with appropriate amounts of physical activity, which can range from little or none to more than what the new rule would require.
If approved, the fitness requirement would be a victory for health advocates and state political leaders who have been pushing schools to play a bigger role in efforts to combat obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
"So many of us are overweight and unhealthy," said Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, who holds a seat on the state board and is chairwoman of the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund. "The first place we can make a difference is with our kids."
Board members seemed eager to head off proposed legislation now in the General Assembly that also is aimed at adding more physical fitness to the school day. The bill would require schools to provide a minimum of 150 minutes a week of physical activity to students in kindergarten through eighth grade but would allow up to 50 percent of that time to be assigned as homework.
"This is an opportunity for us to lead on an important issue and not be dictated to," said state Treasurer Richard Moore, a member of the state board who called for a fitness requirement in 2003. Moore said that the percentage of participants on the state's health insurance plan considered "healthy" has slid from 70 percent to 58 percent in just a few years.
"There are so many warning signals on this," Moore said.
Although fitness advocates want the board to study how to provide more time for formal physical education, the new requirement calls only for "physical activity" that regular classroom teachers can supervise. They would be allowed to break it down into 10-minute increments during the day. It could be as simple as having students walk laps at a brisk pace during recess.
The state already has developed a Web-based collection of 80 activities for use by teachers in providing fitness time for students. Some schools schedule in-class fitness exercises for 10 minutes to start the day.
Despite board support, two key education groups say schools lack the time and resources to meet the new requirement.
"It's not that we're opposed to activity, but there are no resources to put it into place," said Jim Causby, executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators. "If you're adding 30 minutes a day, who's going to do it. ... Right now, teachers have their hands pretty full."
Causby also cited difficulties for middle schools, which he said will have problems scheduling the time because of numerous electives and frequent class changes.
The N.C. School Boards Association has many of the same concerns.
"In general, the board should not be imposing this kind of requirement," said Leanne Winner, lobbyist for the group. "Teachers are under a lot of stress. No one has specified for them what they should no longer be teaching."
Staff writer Todd Silberman can be reached at 829-4531 or mailto:todds@newsobserver.com
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