Requiring school districts to provide elementary students with a certain amount of daily recess, prohibiting limiting or withholding recess for disciplinary reasons, requiring a Kansas state fitness test and designating , the official text

house bill No. 2763
An Act concerning education; relating to elementary and secondary schools; requiring school districts to provide a certain amount of daily recess time for students; prohibiting limiting or withholding recess for disciplinary reasons; requiring the establishment and administration of a Kansas state fitness test; designating up to one hour of recess time as part of the school term; amending K.S.A. 72-3115 and repealing the existing section.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
New Section 1. (a) Beginning in school year 2027-2028, for each school day that exceeds five hours in duration, each school district shall provide a minimum of 30 minutes of daily organized recess within the school day for all students in elementary grades as designated by the school district, except that elementary grades shall not include any grade higher than grade five. Any such recess may be supervised by licensed or unlicensed school personnel.
(b) Recess shall not be limited or withheld for disciplinary reasons unless such student is an immediate threat to self or others.
(c) As used in this section,"recess" means the regularly scheduled time during the school day when students may engage in supervised unstructured play, physical activity or social interaction with other students. "Recess" does not include time in physical education class.
New Sec. 2. (a) The state board of education shall establish a Kansas state physical fitness test that is aligned with the presidential physical fitness test to assess the overall fitness of students in grades one through 12 after the standards for the presidential physical fitness test are published. The state board shall update the test as often as required to maintain alignment with the presidential physical fitness test. The state board shall provide an award for students who meet or exceed the state's 50th percentile and an award for students who meet or exceed the state's 85th percentile on one or more test events.
(b) Beginning in school year 2026-2027, each school district shall annually administer the Kansas state physical fitness test to each student enrolled in grades one through 12. This requirement shall not apply to any student who is a child with a disability, as defined in K.S.A. 72-3404, and amendments thereto, or has a medical exemption as determined by a licensed physician.
Sec. 3. On and after July 1, 2027, K.S.A. 72-3115 is hereby amended to read as follows: 72-3115. (a) Subject to the other provisions of this section, a school term during which public school shall be maintained in each school year by each school district organized under the laws of this state shall consist of not less than 186 school days for pupils students attending kindergarten or any of the grades one through 11 and not less than 181 school days for pupils students attending grade 12.
(b) Subject to a policy developed and adopted by the board of any school district, the board may provide for a school term consisting of school hours. A school term provided for in a policy adopted under this subsection shall consist of: (1) For pupils students attending kindergarten, not less than 465 school hours in each school year; and (2) for pupils students attending any of the grades one through 11, not less than 1,116 school hours in each school year; and (3) for pupils students attending grade 12, not less than 1,086 school hours in each school year. Each board of education which that develops and adopts a policy providing for a school term in accordance with this subsection shall notify the state board of education thereof on or before September 15 in each school year for which the policy is to be in effect.
(c) Subject to a plan developed and adopted by the board of any school district, the board may schedule the school days required for a school term provided for under subsection (a), or the school hours required for a school term provided for in a policy adopted under subsection (b), on a trimestral or quarterly basis. Each board of education which that develops and adopts a plan providing for the scheduling of the school days or school hours of the school term on a trimestral or quarterly basis shall submit the plan to the state board of education for approval prior to implementation. The plan shall be prepared in such form and manner as the state board shall require requires and shall be submitted at a time or times to be determined and specified by the state board.
(d) Subject to a policy developed and adopted by the board of any district as an adjunct to the district's disciplinary policy or as a part of the district's school improvement plan, the board may schedule school days in addition to the school days scheduled for a school term provided for under subsection (a), or school hours in addition to the school hours scheduled for a school term provided for in a policy adopted under subsection (b), or both such additional school days and school hours for pupils students who are in need of remedial education or who are subject to disciplinary measures imposed under the district's disciplinary policy. Any school day or school hour scheduled for a pupil student under a policy adopted under this subsection may be scheduled on weekends, before or after regular school hours, and during the summer months. Inexcusable absence from school on any school day or during any school hour by any pupil student for whom additional school days or school hours have been scheduled under a policy adopted under this subsection shall be counted as an inexcusable absence from school for the purposes of K.S.A. 72-3121, and amendments thereto.
(e) If the board of any school district, or its designee, shall determine that inclement weather will cause hazardous driving conditions, the board, or its designee, may close any or all of the schools within the district. The amount of time pupils students have been in attendance when such determination is made shall be considered a school day of a school term or shall be considered the number of school hours for pupils students to be in attendance at school in a day, whichever is applicable. Consonant with the other provisions of this section, a board may schedule any number of days or hours in excess of the regularly scheduled school days or school hours which that the board determines will be necessary to compensate for those school days or school hours that schools of the district will remain closed during the school term due to hazardous driving conditions. If the number of days or hours schools remain closed due to hazardous driving conditions exceeds the number of days or hours scheduled by the board to compensate for such school days or school hours, the excess number of days or hours, not to exceed whichever is the lesser of: (1) The number of compensatory days or hours scheduled by the board; or (2) five days or the number of school hours regularly scheduled in five days, that schools remain closed due to such conditions shall be considered school days or school hours.
(f) The state board of education may waive the requirements of law relating to the duration of the school term upon application for such a waiver by a school district pursuant to subsection (e). Such waiver may be granted by the state board of education upon: (1) Certification by a board that, due to the persistence of inclement weather, hazardous driving conditions have existed in the school district for an inordinate period of time; and (2) a determination by the state board that the school district cannot reasonably adjust its schedule to comply with statutory requirements. Such waiver shall not exempt a school district from providing a school offering for each pupil which student that is substantially equivalent to that required by law.
(g) Time reserved for parent-teacher conferences for discussions on the progress of pupils students may be considered part of the school term.
(h) Time reserved for staff development or inservice training programs for the purpose of improving staff skills, developing competency in new or highly specialized fields, improving instructional techniques, or curriculum planning and study may be considered part of the school term for an aggregate amount of time equal to the amount of time in excess of the school term which is scheduled by a board of education for similar activities.
(i) The time provided for organized recess not to exceed one hour per school day shall be considered part of the school term.
(j) Boards of education may employ noncertificated personnel to supervise pupils students for noninstructional activities.
Sec. 4. On and after July 1, 2027, K.S.A. 72-3115 is hereby repealed.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the statute book.

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I hereby certify that the above Bill originated in the House, and was adopted by that body

House adopted
Conference Committee Report

Speaker of the House.

Chief Clerk of the House.

Passed the Senate
as amended

Senate adopted
Conference Committee Report

President of the Senate.

Secretary of the Senate.

Approved

Governor.