Legislature(2019 - 2020)BARNES 124
04/02/2019 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB56 | |
| HB32 | |
| HB70 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 56 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 32 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 70 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 70-MAND. PHYS. ACTIVITY SCHOOLS; PLAAY DAY
8:45:41 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND announced that the final order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 70, "An Act relating to health education
and physical activity requirements for students in grades
kindergarten through eight; and establishing the Thursday in
February immediately following Presidents' Day as PLAAY Day."
8:46:02 AM
KRYSTEN WALKER, Staff, Representative Sara Rasmussen, Alaska
State Legislature, presented HB 70 on behalf of Representative
Rasmussen, prime sponsor. She paraphrased parts of the sponsor
statement [included in the committee packet], which read in its
entirety as follows [original punctuation provided]:
First, House Bill 70 amends state law to require
schools to provide 90% of the daily amount of physical
activity recommended for children and adolescents in
the physical activity guidelines by the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through
physical education classes or unstructured physical
activity, like recess, or a combination of both. Our
state has consistently ranked poorly in education
outcomes compared to the rest of our nation. A report
by the CDC showed documented links between increased
physical activity and improved academic performance.
Currently, the CDC recommends a minimum of 60 minutes
per day of physical activity for children. Therefore,
this bill requires 90%, or 54 minutes, of that
recommended activity occur at school. The bill
provides exemptions for students with medical
restrictions, for students that receive school credit
for participation in athletics or other
extracurricular physical activities, and for health
and safety reasons like inclement weather.
Additionally, HB 70 establishes the Thursday in
February immediately following Presidents' Day as
PLAAY Day, which stands for Positive Leadership for
Active Alaska Youth. Elementary schools around the
state are encouraged to celebrate PLAAY Day by
engaging in synchronized physical activity at 10am. As
childhood obesity rates have been increasing in recent
years PLAAY Day provides a dedicated day and time to
emphasize the importance of physical activity and can
help generate enthusiasm for and commitment to a
lifetime of physical activity.
As we tackle complex issues facing our students in
Alaska, this bill provides one avenue through which
our state can work toward improving educational
outcomes, combatting chronic illness resulting from a
lack of physical activity, and build a lifetime of
commitment to healthy living.
8:47:35 AM
MS. WALKER addressed the sectional analysis [included in the
committee packet], which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Section 1: AS 14.30.360(c) Amends AS 14.30.360(c) by
replacing "may" with "shall." This change requires
physical education classes and unstructured physical
activity to be counted toward the amount of time for
physical activity recommended in school district
guidelines. Adds a subparagraph to AS 14.30.360(c)(2),
providing an exemption from physical activity
opportunities for a student who receives school credit
for participation in athletics or extracurricular
physical activities.
Section 2: AS 44.12.107 Establishes the Thursday in
February immediately following Presidents' Day as
PLAAY Day and provides that PLAAY Day may be observed
by elementary school students across Alaska through
synchronized physical activity
8:48:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON asked, "Don't they still have recess for
kindergarten up to whatever grade?"
MS. WALKER answered that HB 70 would require 90 percent of the
Center for Disease Control's (CDC's) recommendation.
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON offered her understanding that Ted
Stevens' "Get Out to Play" takes place the fourth Saturday in
July when there is a full day of activity. She questioned
whether HB 70 would be redundant.
MS. WALKER responded that she is not aware of that program.
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON talked about the commercials for "Get Out
to Play." She shared that she has volunteered for the event,
and she said it is amazing how many children and parents
participate. She questioned whether a mandate to the Department
of Education & Early Development (EED) would be "pushing a
little too hard on what we are demanding." In response to a
request for clarification, she said she was talking about the
PLAAY date. She asked whether EED would have to seek volunteers
or increase staffing "for this particular day."
MS. WALKER offered her understanding that HB 70 "is just a
recommendation" for participation on a certain day and time.
The part that would be required, she noted, is the daily
physical activity.
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON expressed confusion, because she said
children already have recess; therefore, she questioned why the
legislature would mandate more.
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND noted that Todd Brocious, from EED, was
available to respond to questions. She said she does not think
the proposed legislation would impact activities in July,
because that month "is generally outside the school year." She
surmised that [Get Out to Play] was "a whole different
organization."
8:53:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN emphasized he is a proponent of physical
activity. He questioned what impact a change from "may" to
"shall" could have on the current school curriculum, and he
asked whether school districts are prepared to make the changes
that would be required under HB 70. He said he saw no letters
of support or opposition from school districts.
MS. WALKER responded she thinks it would be up to school
districts to determine how to fit in [the physical activity
requirements under HB 70]. She said students across the state
are struggling with reading and other curriculum, and research
shows that physical activity "increases educational outcomes."
8:54:36 AM
CO-CHAIR HANNAN asked how many of the kindergarten through
eighth grade ("K-8") programs in Anchorage currently do not meet
the standard.
MS. WALKER said she did not know but could get that information.
CO-CHAIR HANNAN referred to language, essentially about a
waiver, on page 2, beginning line 7, in Section 1, paragraph
(2), subparagraph (B), which read:
(B) a student who receives school credit for
participation in athletics or extracurricular physical
activities.
CO-CHAIR HANNAN asked how many school districts already have
that policy in place.
MS. WALKER answered that she does not know.
8:55:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS shared that like Representative
Claman, he is a proponent of physical activity but expressed
caution about mandates. He said many schools are already below
the current threshold [for required physical activity for
students] and under HB 70 would have to meet [a higher]
threshold. He asked Ms. Walker if [the bill sponsor and staff]
had engaged in conversation with the public education community
about "the opportunity cost" or "what would be displaced out of
the day to accommodate this requirement."
MS. WALKER said she personally has not had that conversation,
but the bill sponsor has.
8:57:16 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND offered that the committee would have the
opportunity to discuss HB 70 again.
8:57:32 AM
TODD BROCIOUS, Career & Technical Education/Alternative Schools
Health, Assessment and Accountability, Department of Education
and Early Development (EED), advised that the responsibility for
deciding whether to implement the proposed PLAAY Day would fall
with districts; the department would not have an active role in
the decision. He said EED does not track the number of schools
or districts that offer credit for participation in athletics or
extracurricular activities, "so we don't know the statewide
impact of that."
8:58:39 AM
CO-CHAIR HANNAN asked how many K-8 programs statewide already
have 60 minutes of daily activity for students.
MR. BROCIOUS answered that the department does not know. He
added, "I think there's wide variability from ... what we know
in how physical activity ... is implemented and the exact number
of minutes that are offered."
CO-CHAIR HANNAN noted that currently HB 70 has a zero fiscal
note. She asked whether the proposed daily activity would
require EED to conduct monitoring of 54 school districts and
hundreds of schools across the state to ensure they comply.
MR. BROCIOUS reiterated that the proposed legislation does
explicitly require EED to have an enforcement role; therefore,
the department would not be checking with districts to ensure
compliance; that would be a district-level responsibility.
9:00:05 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND pointed out that the fiscal note applies to
EED, not to the schools; therefore, if there was a requirement,
"it would reflect on tasks that the department would have to
do." She said she thinks the committee needs to hear from
school districts at some point, "regarding their perception of
what the cost might be."
9:00:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS asked whether EED has a position
on HB 70.
MR. BROCIOUS answered that the department has not taken a
position on the proposed legislation.
9:00:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN requested the bill sponsor obtain a letter
or a spokesperson from the Anchorage School District to provide
the district's position on HB 70. Particularly, he said he
would like to know the district's position on the impact of the
proposed legislation on curriculum and costs and how many K-8
schools are currently "in compliance with these guidelines
today."
9:01:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON, referring to the aforementioned document
"Connecting Physical Activity to Academic Grades," expressed
curiosity as to whether there is already a state law requiring a
daily amount of physical activity and why it is not being
monitored and enforced.
9:02:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON, regarding the issue of monitoring,
stated that "we keep throwing more and more onto school
districts" that requires reports, which is a reason the
administration in school districts has grown. He concluded, "I
don't want to see us adding more."
9:02:38 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND announced the committee would hear invited
testimony.
9:02:48 AM
DENALI DANIELS, President, Denali Daniels and Associates, stated
that her company provides facilitation, strategic planning, and
policy research to clients, which are typically nonprofits,
government, and small businesses in Alaska. She said DDA has
offices in Anchorage and Juneau. She relayed that in 2014, her
team conducted research on behalf of the Department of Health
and Social Services (DHSS); the [outcome] is in the public
domain and has been widely circulated. She clarified that she
does not represent the state in her comments; she speaks from
the standpoint of the work her team did in 2014. Ms. Daniels
indicated that her comments are typically provided with a
PowerPoint, but she acknowledged the PowerPoint was not provide
at this meeting. In response to Co-Chair Drummond, she offered
to provide the PowerPoint at some point.
9:04:53 AM
MS. DANIELS shared that the genesis of DDA's work was based on
the obesity problem in Alaska. She said Alaska spends $459
million annually on direct healthcare costs associated with
obesity. She said 77 percent of adults and 26 percent of high
school age Alaskans are obese. She said the Center for Disease
Control (CDC) has tied academic performance to physical
activity. She stated, "While we all know there is a connection
between obesity and physical activity, our research was focused
specifically on recess and [physical education] (PE) policies in
the school districts." She related that CDC recommends 60
minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day for
school-aged children. The National Association of Sport and
Physical Education recommends 150 minutes of physical education
each week at the elementary level and 225 minutes each week at
the secondary level.
MS. DANIELS names two noteworthy federal policies: the 2004
Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, which established a
requirement for wellness policies as a condition for the school
meal program eligibility; and the 2010 Healthy Hunger Free Kid's
Act, an effort to define model wellness policies. She opined
these two policies are important to understand when crafting
state policies [related to wellness of children in schools].
9:06:50 AM
MS. DANIELS said the DDA project was two-part. The first part
was a survey of all 54 school districts, in which 29 questions
were asked about the status of the schools' wellness policies -
particularly in relation to PE and recess time, both in policy
and in practice. The second part was collecting all the
wellness policies possible and conducting a policy analysis of
the strengths of the PE and recess elements of those policies
using a coding scheme established by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation. She said DDA was proud to have accomplished a 100
percent response rate for the survey. She said Mt. Edgecombe
was included in the schools surveyed but may not show in a
certain response because it was a question that did not apply to
high school.
MS. DANIELS shared some "high-level statistics." She prefaced
those by offering her understanding that HB 70 would apply only
to K-12. Regarding the survey, she stated:
Only 32 percent of districts told us that their
elementary schools have written policies, and only 6
percent of districts said their middle schools have
written policies.
When we go on to ask whether they have unwritten
recess practices, over half of the districts said both
elementary and middle schools don't have written
policies, but they do have unwritten practices. So,
that's a disconnect that emerges as we talk about
policies versus practices.
MS. DANIELS said 10 districts said they had neither policies nor
practices. She next addressed the subject of PE:
When asked about written PE policies, school districts
reported much higher incidence of written policies:
53 percent, respectively, for elementary and middle
school, reported having written PE policies. But here
again, we see a sizeable number of unwritten
practices.
MS. DANIELS said she found it surprising to find out there are
districts that say they have no PE policies - written or
unwritten. She reported that five districts said their
elementary schools did not have any policies or practices, while
seven districts said [there were] "none at the middle school."
She reminded the committee that these were reports from
districts, not schools; therefore, "we're probably talking about
a number of kids here."
9:10:26 AM
MS. DANIELS, regarding the policy analysis, stated that DDA was
able to collect 51 of the 54 school districts' wellness
policies, and her group scored them using the Robert Wood
Johnson methodology. She reported the results as follows:
So, 33 percent of Alaska's school districts did not
have a policy or had a policy that had not been
updated since 2007. So, remember, 2007 was after the
new federal requirement was in place for the school
lunch program, but before the 2010 Healthy Hunger Free
Kids Act would establish model policies, so we can
look back in time and kind of see where things lined
up in terms of federal policy and how school districts
responded to those ... recommendations.
MS. DANIELS shared the responses regarding recess policy. She
said 50 percent of districts indicated there were no recess
policies, and 100 percent indicated no policies were written for
middle school. In terms of PE, she related that while 40
percent of school districts do not have PE policies for
elementary schools, 60 percent of Alaska's school districts that
do have policies. Further, 90 percent of all school districts
reported having unwritten practices at the elementary level.
Ms. Daniels said that is not necessarily bad, but "we just don't
know what's really going on there." She said the statistics for
middle schools show 58 percent with written policies and 83
percent with unwritten policies.
MS. DANIELS said in 2014, DDA heard anecdotally from school
districts that they value physical activity; however, she said
there is a dramatic disconnect between written policies and
practice. She stated, "There appears to be a need for further
exploration on how to best encourage school districts to adopt
written policies for PE and recess in elementary and middle
school."
9:12:44 AM
MS. DANIELS stated her personal support for HB 70. She said her
background has shown her how important physical activity can be
to one's wellbeing.
9:13:08 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND noted that Ms. Daniels' 52-page report is
available on BASIS.
9:13:35 AM
MS. DANIELS, in response to Representative Hannan, restated that
the 2014 study had been done for DHSS.
CO-CHAIR HANNAN asked Ms. Daniels if she knew when the last
state curriculum overview of physical education policies for the
school district was done by EED.
MS. DANIELS answered no.
CO-CHAIR HANNAN asked if the report in 2014 was "just given to
district level administration" or if PE teachers in the Physical
Education Teachers Association were "contacted to participate."
MS. DANIELS replied that DDA began at the administration level,
but there were instances where the group was referred to "the
other individuals that you noted there." She said, "So, it was
a wide spectrum depending on the situation at the school
district and who was the most appropriate person to answer the
question."
CO-CHAIR HANNAN recollected Ms. Daniels had said that 50 percent
of the schools had reported having recess policy. She asked if
Ms. Daniels had any idea whether those schools were exceeding
the standards of minutes of recess even without a written policy
and whether those answering the survey had the opportunity to
answer more than yes or no.
MS. DANIELS mentioned the policy analysis portion of DDA's work.
She said DDA had questions about practices versus policies, and
[the answers] suggest that "there are a number of school
districts that, while they may not have policies in place to
meet the minimum recommendations of the CDC, ... certainly
practices are occurring." She added, "But we only know that
anecdotally."
9:16:34 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said there is a correlation
between younger kids being on the playground and being active,
but as kids get older, that correlation diminishes. He stated
that the goal of HB 70 is healthy and active kids and the means
to that goal is to require physical activity time. He
questioned how effective a tool that would be for elementary and
middle school students. He asked if there is any analysis about
requirements and the actual movement they inspire.
MS. DANIELS responded that she does not recall "getting to that
level of detail," but she said she would look back through DDA's
work and get back to Representative Kreiss-Tomkins on that.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS requested either the bill sponsor
or Ms. Daniels look for that statistic, if not in Alaska, then
perhaps nationally. He said he would like to know that
statistic if he is going to further consider a mandate.
9:19:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON asked, "Who's to say they don't play ...
once they get home?" She reflected that when she was a child,
her parents had to drag her in from play. She referred to
Representative Thompson's previous remarks about the number of
mandates being given. She concluded, "It's almost like we're
disregarding the activity they have outside of school."
9:20:34 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND asked Ms. Daniels' whether the DDA's report
was presented to DHSS, perhaps through the legislature via
another bill hearing or "Lunch and Learn" where it might be
archived and accessible to the committee.
MS. DANIELS responded that in 2014, when the work was completed,
there were no formal presentations. She recollected that in
2016, Senator Mia Costello sponsored Senate Bill 200, and during
that process there were several times that DDA presented the
findings in its work.
9:21:43 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND opened public testimony on HB 70.
9:22:13 AM
KELLY LESSENS, ASD60, stated that she is a parent in the
Anchorage School District, as well as a co-founder of the
Anchorage-based Recess and Lunch Advocacy Group "ASD60." She
said HB 70 would improve the statute of 2016, which merely
requires the districts to establish guildelines promoting a
certain amount of physical activity [in schools]. She added,
"And it also permits some of that time to be comprised of in-
class activity." To a previous question about the Anchorage
School District, she said the district's guidelines are for 100
minutes a week of recess and 90 minutes a week of PE. She said
that falls short of "the current suggestion of 54 minutes a
day." She said HB 70 is worded to "ameliorate that problem."
Regarding in-class activities being counted, she opined that
"sharpening a pencil, pivoting on a rug, or standing for the
Pledge of Allegiance" is "not really getting to what the CDC has
in mind as meeting 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous quality of
activity that all children need." She urged the committee to
amend HB 70 to require 60 minutes and "to clarify that the time
required for such physical activity may include physical
education and opportunities for unstructured physical activity,
like recess." She said such an amendment would promote "a
fiscally prudent and socially equitable means to increase
learning efficiency statewide."
MS. LESSENS, regarding the zero fiscal note, said additional
costs to districts should be minimal. She said she wants the
committee to understand that "recess should be an extension of
classroom learning, so you could have a teacher-supervised
recess or additional amounts of that at zero additional cost."
She advised, "The American Academy of Pediatrics has explained
that recess, like no other time in a child's day, enables the
youth to develop their executive function, improve their
social/emotional learning, and improve the quality of their peer
to peer relationships." Ms. Lessens talked about a game her
daughter, who is in second grade, and her friends invented and
how this is an example of "how kids make plans, they are
creative, they use up their energy, and they come back to class
really ... reinvigorated, ready to learn."
9:25:25 AM
MS. LESSENS stated that not only is HB 70 affordable, it also
deals with the question of justice and equity. She mentioned
her website, "ASD60.org," on which she has charted every
Anchorage elementary school's allocation for recess and lunch.
She said, "The uncomfortable fact here is that schools serving
predominantly poor students and students of color grant lower
amounts of time for recess and ... lunch than their whiter and
more well-off counterparts do." She said this echoes studies
nationwide where urban schools and schools where 75 percent of
students receive free lunch get less recess than rural or
suburban schools. Ms. Lessens said that because the Alaska
State Legislature is constitutionally responsible for ensuring
the quality and equity of all students' educations, she is
"pretty sure that all of Alaska's kids deserve evidence-based,
state-secured safeguards in this respect." She said she knows
that many people emphasize the importance of local control, both
at the district and classroom level; however, "the question
about whether the State of Alaska has any business telling
districts how much time to allot to physical activity through
recess and PE is really disingenuous." She indicated that the
question of wearing seatbelts or [not] driving under the
influence is not left up to local jurisdictions, so statewide
evidence-based minimums related to the health, wellbeing, and
learning environments of children should not be left to local
control.
MS. LESSENS stated that allocating time in a school day to
recess and PE is not an issue of how much academic time might be
lost, because recess and PE counter rates of obesity, which is a
growing crisis that costs the state millions of dollars
annually. Both recess and PE bolster academic outcomes, improve
behavior, and increase learning efficiency. To Representative
Kreiss-Tomkins' question as to how effective HB 70 might be, Ms.
Lessens relayed that "the LiiNK Program" in Texas gives children
four, fifteen-minute recesses throughout the day, emulating [a
practice in] Finland. The results have shown that kids who go
out and play [during school] actually incorporate more activity
in their after-school time. She said she thinks at a time when
children go home and spend time on their electronic devices,
anything that can be done to promote physical activity that
carries over as a practice is valuable.
MS. LESSENS said as a parent, she has observed her daughter's
ability to focus in school "hinges on the fact that on some
days, her classmates are just too wiggly to sit still." She
said she knows that her children's educational experiences will
be "more efficient, enjoyable, and effective if the state
ensures that all children have daily evidence-based and
equitable access to moderate to vigorous physical activity that
the CDC says they need to be healthy, and which can only come
from recess or PE."
9:28:57 AM
CAREY CARPENTER, ASD60, shared that she is a parent of two
children in elementary school and a young adult cancer survivor
that understands the importance of health. She stated support
of HB 70. She said last year, on the first day of school, her
children reported to her that recess had been "cut." She said
she was shocked, because recess and PE improve learning and
support both physical and emotional health. She said she has
found "significant amounts of data" to support that. Ms.
Carpenter opined that the physical activity mandated under HB 70
is necessary, because in the three years since a physical
activity law was enacted, many districts have not made any
changes resulting in increased activity for children. She said
currently her children get "only two days of PE a week," which
means the other three days of the week her eight-year-old gets
only one, twenty-minute recess break a day. She said schools
can still cut recess. She stated that Alaska children deserve
"the best in education and opportunity in life" and need
[adults] to speak up for them. She said some districts in
Alaska are making physical activity a priority, because they see
the connection it has with improving education. Ms. Carpenter
said reports show that physically active students have better
grades and better attendance in school. Although some schools
are "doing it right," children without the choice of where they
attend school need to be afforded the same rights and benefits.
She stated, "This bill is a path towards improving learning and
health, which all of Alaska kids need. The issue is so
important in the lives of children now and for their future. We
need to make sure that districts across Alaska are doing the
right thing for our kids."
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND noted that Ms. Carpenter's letter was in the
committee packet.
9:32:13 AM
CO-CHAIR HANNAN observed that in her letter, Ms. Carpenter
mentions a school with nearly 700 elementary students. She
asked which school and district Ms. Carpenter was referencing.
MS. CARPENTER said it is Sand Lake Elementary, in the Anchorage
School District, which is the largest school in Alaska, with
approximately 670 students.
9:33:04 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND closed public testimony on HB 70.
9:33:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON offered her understanding from hearing
the testimony that "more than one day is being requested." She
suggested an amendment for "one day a week" may be considered,
because "it sounds like the parents are asking for more."
9:33:50 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND announced that HB 70 was held over.