Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
03/05/2019 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| SB56 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 56 | TELECONFERENCED | |
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 5, 2019
9:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Shelley Hughes, Vice Chair
Senator Chris Birch
Senator Mia Costello
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 56
"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."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 56
SHORT TITLE: MAND. PHYS. ACTIVITY SCHOOLS; PLAAY DAY
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) COSTELLO
02/13/19 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/13/19 (S) EDC
02/26/19 (S) EDC AT 8:30 AM BUTROVICH 205
02/26/19 (S) <Bill Hearing Canceled>
03/05/19 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
CHAZ RIVAS, Staff
Senator Mia Costello
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced SB 56 on behalf of the sponsor.
ERIN LAUGHLIN, Intern
Senator Mia Costello
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced SB 56 on behalf of the sponsor.
DENALI DANIELS, President
Denali Daniels and Associates
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented research on physical education and
recess policy survey during the hearing on SB 56.
CAREY CARPENTER, representing ASD60
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 56.
KELLY LESSENS, Ph.D., representing ASD60
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 56.
POSIE BOGGS, Member
Alaska Reading Coalition
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 56.
DOROTHY ORR, Executive Director
SHAPE Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the intent but not the language of
SB 56.
MIKE COONS, representing self
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 56.
DAVID NEES, representing self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 56 with some concerns.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:01:16 AM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Costello, Hughes, Begich, and Chair Stevens.
Senator Birch arrived shortly thereafter.
SB 56-MAND. PHYS. ACTIVITY SCHOOLS; PLAAY DAY
9:01:26 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of SB 56. He announced
his intent to introduce the bill, take public testimony, and
hold the bill in committee.
9:02:02 AM
SENATOR COSTELLO invited her aides to introduce the bill on her
behalf.
9:03:16 AM
CHAZ RIVAS, Staff, Senator Mia Costello, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, said that SB 56 is an act relating
to physical activity requirements for students in kindergarten
through grade 8. This bill strengthens the law enacted in 2016
so that Alaskan students have the opportunity to benefit from
physical activity during the school day. Under the bill, school
districts would provide at least 90 percent of the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) recommendation for physical activity for
adolescents. School districts would have the flexibility of
meeting the requirement of 54 minutes through physical education
(PE) classes, recess, classroom brain breaks or a combination of
activity types.
9:04:17 AM
MR. RIVAS said breaks in the school day have been shown to
improve information retention and focus. Recess lets students
process classroom lessons and allows for an education outside of
the classroom. A CDC review of 50 peer-reviewed studies
documents a link between physical activity and academic
performance, including achievement, behavior, cognitive skills,
and attitude. The American Association for Pediatrics also found
that recess, either indoor or outdoor, led to more attentive and
productive students. Various peer-reviewed studies show that
students who are active in school do better in nearly every way.
MR. RIVAS said SB 56 does the following:
• Requires school districts to "establish guidelines for
schools in the district to provide opportunities
during each full school day for grades kindergarten
through eight
• Physical activity in schools must meet at least 90% of
the Centers for Disease Control recommendation.
• Recognizes the Thursday after President's Day as PLAAY
Day.
MR. RIVAS said PLAAY stands for Positive Leadership for Active
Alaska Youth. PLAAY Day began a few years as an effort to meet
that physical activity requirement for the day.
MR. RIVAS said the presentation summarizes research that helps
support the idea that physical activity in schools helps
students academically and behaviorally.
MR. RIVAs said the study "Physical Activity and Cognitive
Functioning of Children: A Systematic Review, published in 2018
in the International Journal of Environmental Research and
Public Health, states a brain break can do the following:
• The ability to focus attention is improved among
children who participate in physical activities (pg.
2)
• Classroom-based physical activity (a 10-min aerobic
physical activity integrated with math practice)
improved both physical activity levels and academic
achievement. (pg.5)
9:07:22 AM
ERIN LAUGHLIN, Intern, Senator Mia Costello, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, referred to findings from a CDC
systematic review of 56 studies.
9:07:56 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked if the academic improvement is retained
over time.
MR. RIVAS answered that some of the studies look at retention
for academics and some focus on behavior.
SENATOR BEGICH asked if the research speak to retention over
time.
MS. LAUGHLIN said some of the studies in the CDC systemic review
do. She offered to follow up with more information.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if classroom behavior improves when play
occurs.
MR. RIVAS replied that it does correlate positively with on-task
behavior. He showed a finding from the CDC review:
Time spent in recess has been shown to positively affect
students' cognitive performance (e.g., attention,
concentration) and a classroom behaviors (e.g., not
misbehaving). 40-44 (pg. 3)
MR. RIVAS displayed a table on slide 5 from "The Effects of
Recess on Fifth Grade Students Time On-Task in an Elementary
Classroom" published in the International Electronic Journal of
Elementary Education. This study was conducted in northern
Mississippi with 12 students. The table shows a doubling to
tripling of on-task activity after recess.
MS. LAUGHLIN added that the sample size is a limitation, but the
study says it is easily repeatable. It shows a positive
correlation between recess and on-task behavior.
9:13:32 AM
SENATOR BIRCH asked if this information is available to
educators and school boards across the state. He expressed
concern about changing the law from a "must" to a "may." He
asked what kind of engagement has occurred about this with
districts. He said seems that a reasonable person would do this,
but perhaps there are tradeoffs. He said he worries about
sidelining local school boards.
MR. RIVAS responded that SB 56 is very similar to the bill that
passed in 2016. A goal is for school districts, schools, and
teachers to be creative in how to reach that [54]-minute
threshold. School districts across the country have found ways
to reach this threshold without major disruption to classrooms
or academics.
9:16:36 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked how many school districts across the state
achieve the [54] minute threshold. She expressed concern that
time would be taken out of academics because children in Alaska
already are in school several weeks less than the national
average.
MR. RIVAS said there would be invited testimony from Denali
Daniels who did a study on the question.
SENATOR HUGHES said the bill applies to K-8, but high school
students benefit from physical activity too. She said youths
that participate in an afterschool athletic program can go home
to study with their brains ready to go. However, students can't
participate if they don't keep their grades up. She commented
that some of the kids who start to slip through the cracks would
benefit from afterschool athletic programs.
MR. RIVAS said the high school question is worth exploring. The
bill structure is K-8 because elementary schools do not have
access to accredited sports like in high school. In middle
school, sports accessibility is more limited than in high
school. The bill has an exemption clause for those participating
in accredited sports.
9:22:14 AM
SENATOR BIRCH said he too worries about the mandate. He asked if
the sponsor had any commentary from school organizations about
how school districts are reacting to the mandatory nature of the
bill.
MR. RIVAS replied that the sponsor had not received written
testimony or heard concerns.
SENATOR BEGICH said he would be curious to know their position.
CHAIR STEVENS advised that the committee would hear from
representatives from the Anchorage School District today.
MR. RIVAS reviewed information from "Physical Fitness and
Academic Achievement in Third- and Fifth-Grade Students"
published in 2007 in the Journal of Sport and Exercise
Psychology. One important takeaway was that children benefitted
socially, particularly at the elementary level.
• Opportunities for children to be physically active and
become physically fit should be provided by the
school, especially at the elementary level. (pg. 248)
• This study confirms that physical fitness is generally
associated with academic performance in elementary
school children. (pg. 250)
MR. RIVAS reviewed the Alaska student overweight and obesity
rate, which ranges from 32 percent in Mat-Su, 36 percent in
Anchorage, and up to 53 percent on the North Slope.
SENATOR BIRCH asked what the national benchmark is.
9:25:38 AM
MS. LAUGHLIN said she would follow up with the information. The
HA 2020 Indicator on the graph stands for the Healthy Alaskans
2020 initiative from the partnership between the Department of
Health and Social Services (DHSS) and the Alaska Tribal Health
Consortium. Healthy Alaskans 2020 has 25 benchmarks to reach by
2020, and one is a 35 percent overweight and obesity rate.
MR. RIVAS reviewed information from "The Decline of Play and the
Rise of Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents" published
in the 2011 American Journal of Play:
• Play functions as the major means by which children
(1) develop intrinsic interests and competencies; (2)
learn how to make decisions, solve problems, exert
self-control, and follow rules; (3) learn to regulate
their emotions; (4) make friends and learn to get
along with others as equals; and (5) experience joy.
(pg. 1)
• Through all of these effects, play promotes mental
health.
SENATOR BIRCH said he would be interested in the correlation
between the decline in play and the rise in screen time over the
last 20 years.
MR. RIVAS asked whether he was referring to during school or
after.
SENATOR BIRCH answered just generally as it relates to play.
MR. RIVAS said he could investigate whether there is any
correlation. He would also look at K-8 policies about student
access to cell phones during recess.
SENATOR BEGICH commented that the title is apocalyptic. He asked
if the studies looked at the structure of play time. For
example, what if kids only looked at their phones during recess.
He asked if the bill or the studies address that. He said he was
looking for guidelines of when it works and when it doesn't.
MS. LAUGHLIN said this particular study does mention the
increase in sedentary lifestyle in the past decades and how
children are not as active both inside the classroom and at
home. Many studies define structured and unstructured play.
Recess is unstructured play. Almost all the studies that are
available show the benefits of unstructured play and that it may
be greater than structured play.
SENATOR BEGICH said that is fascinating.
CHAIR STEVENS commented, free range children.
SENATOR HUGHES said it would be valuable to know if districts
have policies about children not taking phones out during
recess. She opined that by fourth or fifth grade, a lot of
students have cell phones, and unstructured play needs to be
physical.
9:32:50 AM
MR. RIVAS shared information from "The Power of Play: A
Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children," a
clinical report published in September 2018 by the American
Academy of Pediatrics:
• Play is not frivolous: it enhances brain structure and
function and promotes executive function (i.e., the
process of learning, rather than the content), which
allows us pursue goals and ignore distractions" (pg.
1)
• Advocate for the protection of children's unstructured
playtime because of its numerous benefits, including
the development of foundational motor skills that may
have lifelong benefits for the prevention of obesity,
hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.
MR. RIVAS shared information from "The Crucial Role of Recess in
Schools," an article published in 2010 in the Journal of School
Health:
• Recess acts as a break from challenging mental tasks
performed within a confined space. As such, recess
offers a child a means for relieving and managing
stress.
MR. RIVAS shared a quote from an opinion piece published in the
Anchorage Daily New written by Dr. Lily Lou, Chief Medical
Officer for DHSS and DHSS Commissioner Designee Adam Crum:
• Unfortunately, children today have fewer
opportunities to play and grow in healthy ways, which
negatively affects their ability to decrease stress,
overcome adverse childhood experiences, learn positive
social behaviors and develop higher-level reasoning
skills.
MR. RIVAS shared the following information about PLAAY Day.
• PLAAY Day (Positive Leadership for Active Alaska
Youth) is a synchronized, statewide event that
encourages the importance of physical fitness in
youth.
• PLAAY Day is held on the Thursday following
Presidents' Day.
• Goal of PLAAY Day is to provide a day of opportunity
for Alaskan students to be physically active and reach
their daily physical activity goal.
SENATOR HUGHES asked if other states have something similar and
why the Thursday after Presidents' Day was chosen.
MR. RIVAS said the statewide organization suggested the day.
SENATOR HUGHES asked if this is being done in other states and
if there is an organization called Positive Leadership for
Active Alaska Youth.
MR. RIVAS answered that the organization does exist. He offered
to follow up with information about whether other states do
this.
9:38:06 AM
MR. RIVAS provided the following sectional analysis for SB 56:
Section 1: Amends AS 14.30.360(c) (Health education
curriculum; physical activity guidelines). Requires Alaska
school districts to meet 90 percent of the daily
recommended [60]-minute physical activity guideline set by
the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the
United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Section 2: Establishes the Thursday following President's
Day as PLAAY Day (Positive Leadership for Active Alaska
Youth). This day will be established for recognizing the
importance of physical activity in school; and provides a
certain day where students are able to meet the national
recommendation of physical activity in the school day.
9:39:13 AM
DENALI DANIELS, President, Denali Daniels and Associates,
Anchorage, Alaska, said that in 2014 she conducted research on
behalf of DHSS. Her testimony is on behalf of the work her team
conducted and does not represent the state of Alaska. That work
is part of the public domain and was part of the basis for SB
200 in 2016. Her team is a consulting firm with offices in
Anchorage and Juneau. They provide strategic planning,
facilitation, public involvement, and policy research. Most
clients are nonprofits or small businesses and at times
government agencies.
MS. DANIELS said her team's work was specific to policies in
Alaska. The cost of obesity is dramatic and the statistics are
quite high. The CDC has tied academic performance to physical
activity. Her research was focused on PE and recess policies in
Alaska school districts.
MS. DANIELS said the CDC recommended that school-age children
participate in at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to
vigorous physical activity. The National Association of Sport
and Physical Education recommends 150 minutes of PE per week for
elementary students and 225 minutes per week for secondary
students.
MS. DANIELS said that two federal policies have set the stage
for what happens at the state level. The Child Nutrition and
Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) Reauthorization Act of 2004
required that entities eligible for the school meal program had
to have a wellness policy. The deadline for establishing the
policies was the 2006-2007 school year. She said she will share
some data about Alaska's wellness policies. The Healthy, Hunger-
Free Kids Act of 2010 established best practices for wellness
policies.
9:44:38 AM
SENATOR BIRCH asked her to speak about the nuances between
federal policy and guidelines. For example, 55 m.p.h. is a
policy if states want federal highway money. He asked if any
federal education dollars are dependent on following any of the
policies.
MS. DANIELS said it is all policy. It comes down to enforcement
and the way legislation is written.
MS. DANIELS reviewed the elements of wellness policies
established in 2010. She said elements of a good wellness policy
address nutrition, meal guidelines, nutrition education goals,
physical activity, student wellness, and implementation. Today
the scope would be limited to PE and recess, but wellness
policies are an umbrella for wellness overall.
SENATOR BIRCH said he was trying to understand the role of the
Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development in this
policy structure. He asked if she had opinions about education
policy and if the committee has any obligation to work with
them.
MS. DANIELS replied that she didn't have the answer.
CHAIR STEVENS suggested the committee ask someone from the
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED).
9:48:24 AM
MS. DANIELS said there were two parts to the project. The first
was a survey of 54 school districts asking 29 questions about PE
and recess policies. All 54 school districts responded. She said
she is showing the data that relates to SB 56, which is only K-
8. She noted that the number 53 is on some of the data because
Mt. Edgecumbe is a high school. The second part was an analysis
of the 51 written policies that were collected. A scoring
methodology established by the Robert Wood Johnson foundation
was then applied.
MS. DANIELS said written policies are important because they
establish a clear vision and accountability. Only 32 percent of
school districts said their elementary schools had a written
policy about recess and only six percent of middle schools. The
majority said they had no written policy but a decent amount of
practice in place. Most noteworthy was the number of school
districts with no policy at all. Ten districts said they had no
elementary school policies and 19 said they had no policies for
middle school.
MS. DANIELS said 53 percent of school districts had a written
policy for PE at the elementary and secondary level. A number
had no written policy but have practices in place. Five school
districts at the elementary level had no policy for PE and seven
school districts had none at the middle school level. She said
she found not having a policy at all, even in practice,
surprising.
MS. DANIELS reminded the committee that she surveyed districts,
not schools; she has not counted the number of schools and
students involved.
CHAIR STEVENS said the two percent who didn't know at the middle
school level was surprising.
MS. DANIELS said the survey asked open-ended questions.
Anecdotally, people at the school districts were eager to talk
about this issue. Some survey comments were about stipulating
the number of minutes needed, stronger teeth in number of
minutes suggested by the state, more state-mandated PE and
recess, and increased compliance.
9:54:17 AM
SENATOR BIRCH commented that this didn't take into account
soccer moms, who are constantly driving children to sports
practices and other evening activities.
MS. DANIELS agreed that the scope of work did not include those
things.
MS. DANIELS said the team scored the written policies with the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation coding scheme. A strong policy
required an implementation plan and included strong language
such as "shall," "must," "will," and "require," and met or
exceeded CDC recommendations. A weak policy included vague
terms, suggestions, or recommendations, and did not meet the CDC
recommendations. There were a lot of "no policy" responses,
which was an eye opener.
MS. DANIELS said that 33 percent of Alaska school districts had
no policy or had not updated them since 2007. The 2010 act
established guidelines for effective policies, so the 33 percent
shows that the 2010 act did not make an impact in improving
policies. Her work was in 2014 and SB 200 passed in 2016. She
opined not much has changed since that time.
9:58:14 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked what SB 200 did.
MS. DANIELS responded that she would prefer not to address
legislation.
MR. RIVAS said that SB 200 looks similar to SB 56. SB 200 said
that school districts shall provide opportunities. It was
amended in the state House and the "shall" became a "may." SB
200 passed as a recommendation, not a requirement.
MS. DANIELS said physical education would be a component of a
wellness policy. Forty percent of school districts had no
written policy/provision for PE at both the elementary and
middle school level.
MS. DANIELS said 50 percent of school districts had no policy
about the daily minutes for recess. One hundred percent of
middle schools had no policy. She said she wondered if recess
was the correct term to use at middle school, but it was the
state that provided the questions for the study.
10:01:13 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said policy or no policy, every elementary school
in the state probably has recess. She said it is important to
know how many minutes school districts have scheduled for
recess. She posited that for middle school, it is probably part
of the lunch period and they all take PE.
MS. DANIELS said she would follow up with that information. She
had it but didn't include it in the presentation.
SENATOR HUGHES reiterated that it is important information.
MS. DANIELS said that in 2014, school districts agreed about the
importance, but were hesitant to put minutes in policy and
formally schedule the time. By asking about practices the team
learned that there is a disconnect between written policy and
practice. She said it sounds like there is a need for further
exploration about PE and recess at the elementary and middle
school and about the questions raised today.
10:04:05 AM
MS. DANIELS said that she had jumped ahead to the conclusion, so
she would go over some more findings. She said some school
districts struggle to balance time between PE and core
curriculum. A direct quote from a respondent is, "School is
focusing on attendance and grades, and PE has taken a backseat."
MS. DANIELS said 50 percent of districts do not have a recess
policy, but 50 percent do. Recess is provided more in practice
than in written policies. The team did hear that 63 percent of
districts provide middle school recess/open gym in practice, and
77 percent of elementary schools schedule lunch and recess
separately. That means 23 percent of school districts may not be
following best practices.
MS. DANIELS said she personally supports SB 56. She recounted
that her daughter-in-law, who is a teacher at Kasilof,
mentioning that students were doing well this year with 30
minutes of recess and 30 minutes of PE.
10:07:40 AM
CAREY CARPENTER, representing ASD60, Anchorage, Alaska,
supported SB 56. She said that ASD60 is a grassroots group that
supports increased physical activity and appropriate amounts of
time for students to eat lunch, following the CDC
recommendation. She is a parent of two students at Sand Lake
Elementary School and a young adult cancer survivor who
understands the importance of health. Last year, on the first
day of school, her children told her that recess had been cut.
She was shocked. Recess and PE improve learning and physical,
emotional, and psychological health. This activity mandate is
necessary because many school districts have not changed
anything to give students more physical activity since SB 200
passed in 2016. Schools are free to cut recess. Alaskan students
deserve the best in education and opportunity in life. Children
like her daughter who sit through three days of school a week
with only 20 minutes of recess need someone to speak for them.
Some districts in Alaska are making physical activity a
priority. They see the connection it has to better education. It
makes learning more efficient.
MS. CARPENTER said some schools are doing it right, but children
don't get to pick where they go to school. Children deserve
equal access to these benefits. The issue is so important in the
lives of children. It's important to ensure that districts
across Alaska are doing the right things for students.
10:10:20 AM
SENATOR BIRCH asked if she raised this issue with her daughter's
principal or anyone else in the Anchorage School District.
MS. CARPENTER said she asked the principal why recess was cut.
His response was that the school had to fit in more academic
time. She said just sitting in a chair does not make children
learn; the process is about blood flow to the brain. Children
learn with movement. As part of that, ASD60 formed. They have
tried to work with the Anchorage School District, and the
district did decide to start a health and wellness committee.
ASD60 also started a petition for increased physical activity
and lunchtime and over 6,000 people signed.
10:12:06 AM
SENATOR BIRCH said testimony earlier was that the tradeoff was
diminished time for core academic curriculum. He said he is
struggling with intervening at a statewide level with something
that should be a school district or school board or local
government decision. He asked if recess is 20 minutes in all
Anchorage K-8 schools.
MS. CARPENTER answered that is the minimum.
SENATOR BIRCH asked if 20 minutes is the actual time and if that
includes lunch periods.
MS. CARPENTER answered that 20 minutes is a minimum. Most
schools meet that, but it is not being well tracked by the
Anchorage School District. Some schools are supposed to have a
45-minute block for lunch and recess, and some only had 40
minutes. The Anchorage School District is not doing a good job
making sure students get the physical activity they need, which
is why ASD60 supports this bill. She noted that three or four
schools in Anchorage allocate over an hour. Those schools
indicate teachers have an easier time teaching and the students
learn more. She said everyone wants all students to have equal
opportunity for those huge benefits. There are mountains of
research showing the benefits. Every single student in every
school deserves this opportunity.
10:15:47 AM
KELLY LESSENS, Ph.D., representing ASD60, Anchorage, Alaska,
supported SB 56. She said she has a doctorate in American
culture and she studies race, gender, and environmental history.
She is the cofounder of ASD60. She cares about the overall
environment in which her children and their peers learn. Many
people emphasize the importance of local control at the district
and classroom level, but just as they don't leave the question
about wearing seat belts, smoking in restaurants, or selling
alcohol to minors to local jurisdictions, establishing evidence-
based minimums designed to promote the health and well-being of
all students should not be left to local control. She said she
has called all the schools in Anchorage and the data is
analogous to national data, which shows that schools serving
predominantly poor students and students of color grant less
time for recess than their whiter and/or more well-off
counterparts. There is a minimum, but charter schools with very
high SES [socioeconomic status] with a low percentage of
nonwhite students exceed the minimum time. Because the
legislature is constitutionally obligated to ensure the quality
and equity of education, all Alaskan children deserve better
safeguards.
DR. LESSENS said Senate Bill 200 did not require districts to
schedule time for physical activity or specify that all activity
should be of moderate to vigorous quality that the CDC
recommends. For her daughter in second grade, the Anchorage
School District offers legal guidelines of 100 minutes a week of
recess and 90 minutes of PE. Her daughter's teacher must find 80
additional minutes to remain in those guidelines. The Anchorage
School District scheduling requirements are so tight that
teachers talk about not having enough time to send students to
the bathroom. That they can find 80 additional minutes for
physical activity is laughable. These totally legal guidelines
mean that her daughter and her classmates receive 60 minutes
less than the 150 minutes of PE recommended by the Alaska
Department of Health and Social Services. Her daughter and peers
also receive far less recess than peers Outside are starting to
receive. Over the past two decades, researchers have figured out
more recess leads to better results. Virginia passed legislation
in 2018 saying up to 15 percent of the school day could be given
to recess. Texas has had groundbreaking work with LiiNK, Let's
Inspire Innovation 'N Kids. Those students get four 15-minute
recesses during the day. Her daughter and her peers are not
getting this. Recess and PE matter in Alaska because obesity is
expensive to treat.
DR. LESSENS said recess and PE bolster academic outcomes,
improve behavior, and make learning more efficient. She said she
is testifying for own children, but as a historian, she thinks
about the big picture and the social world kids have inherited.
Mandating better minimums for everyone will make learning more
efficient, more enjoyable, and more effective. Recess and PE are
better for this than in-class brain breaks.
CHAIR STEVENS said the Department of Education would speak to
the fiscal note.
10:21:29 AM
PAUL PRUSSING, Project Coordinator, Department of Education and
Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, said the DEED fiscal
note is zero.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if he had any comments about the bill.
MR. PRUSSING deferred to Mr. Brocious.
TODD BROCIOUS, Health and Safety Administrator, Department of
Education and Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, said the
department is supportive of SB 56. The testimony highlighting
the data about positive health impacts is accurate and similar
to what the department has identified.
10:22:37 AM
SENATOR BIRCH asked what role the State Board of Education has
in statewide policies such as this that impact schools.
MR. BROCIOUS said the state board is not involved in this
policy. Local school boards have the statutory authority to
develop guidelines to comply with the statute.
SENATOR BIRCH asked if this is viewed as a local guideline and
not something the state board would weigh in on.
MR. BROCIOUS replied that is correct; those guidelines would be
established locally.
SENATOR BIRCH asked, based on the testimony that SB 56 may
deprive K-8 students of core curriculum instruction, if there
would be an adverse impact on the ultimate mission and
objectives of DEED.
MR. BROCIOUS responded that the bill allows for creative
insertion of physical activity during the day. He opined that
much of the required time could be implemented during the class
period as physical activity can be integrated into instruction.
He said he listened to the testimony on SB 200 in 2016 and
districts identified challenges and limits with time within the
school day. He said he wanted to acknowledge and honor that.
10:25:19 AM
MR. PRUSSING described SB 56 as a straightforward bill. He said
it changes the existing statute from "may" to "shall," adds a
waiver for children who participate in afterschool activities
like basketball, and it implements PLAAY Day. These changes
clarify and strengthen the existing statute.
10:26:29 AM
SENATOR BIRCH asked if K-8 students who participate in
extracurricular athletic activities typically receive school
credit for that.
MR. PRUSSING answered that local school districts can adopt
those policies now.
SENATOR BEGICH, in response to Mr. Brocious' statement that the
state board did not have any responsibilities in regard to the
bill, he said Senator Begich cited AS 14.07.180, which is about
board responsibilities regarding curriculum approval, and AS
14.07.175, regarding assessment and education laws and
regulations. Thus, the state board does have responsibility for
establishing curriculum statewide so SB 56 would clearly have an
impact on statewide curriculum. He asked for an explanation for
his statement.
MR. PRUSSING reviewed AS 14.08.021 that delegates to local
school boards the authority to operate the public schools.
SENATOR BEGICH said his point is that for years, the State Board
of Education has not taken on the duties it is statutorily
responsible for, which includes approval of curriculum on a
regular basis and reporting to the legislature on a regular
basis. There are significant responsibilities the board is not
exercising. He emphasized that it was time for the board to step
up and do its job, which is everything from reviewing the budget
to having the commissioner take responsibility for the budget.
AS 14.07.168, the report to the legislature, AS 14.07.170,
additional powers and duties, and AS 14.07.180, curricula
approval, which is part of the pilot project that passed last
year, all speak to the importance of the board taking an active
role in identifying what should or should not be required at the
local level. He said he wants the legislation to be integrated
as part of the board's overall responsibilities.
MR. PRUSSING agreed that there are multiple statutes such as AS
14.07.050, the selection of textbooks as the responsibility of
the local board, so it does fall under local responsibility. He
added that work is being done to clarify the roles of the state
board and local board regarding the selection of curriculum.
10:31:29 AM
CHAIR STEVENS opened public testimony.
10:31:40 AM
POSIE BOGGS, Member, Alaska Reading Coalition, Anchorage,
Alaska, stated that the coalition supports SB 56 and does not
see it as pitting reading instruction against play. She said
everyone needs play and struggling readers need as much play
time and brain boost time as possible because reading
instruction can be intense for those struggling. She explained
that some struggling readers have experienced an adverse
childhood event when learning to read that leads to
posttraumatic stress syndrome for them. Data from adults who
suffer from posttraumatic stress from reading instruction show
they have anger and resentment toward their childhood teachers.
She said the coalition feels that anything that decreases stress
during reading instruction will reduce the emotional cost
suffered by children who struggle. She said the coalition has a
lot of confidence in the report that will come out of the
reading task force. They anticipate that the recommendations in
the report will lead to efficiency in reading instruction,
meaning less conflict between play vs. academic time. She said
the coalition would support extending the school day by 15 or 30
minutes or extending the school year to ensure a healthy
environment for reading instruction and students who struggle. A
large factor in that is being able to move around and use a
brain boost to decrease stress in the moment. Reading is hard.
It is not natural. It comes by instruction. She reiterated that
the coalition supports play and SB 56.
10:35:48 AM
DOROTHY ORR, Executive Director, SHAPE Alaska, Anchorage,
Alaska, stated support for the intent but not the language of SB
56. She expressed concern that the current language will not
actually change what is happening in classrooms and could
actually decrease the amount of physical activity for some
children. She said SHAPE Alaska encourages participation in
PLAAY Day and believes the intent of the language is to
recognize and participate in physical activity across the state
but it does not require school districts to offer physical
education for students in grades K-8 or deter teachers from
withholding PE or recess for whatever reason. She concluded her
comments saying that SHAPE Alaska supports the intent to bring
opportunities for daily activity and movement into the school
day. Healthy, active students are better students.
10:41:28 AM
MIKE COONS, representing self, Palmer, Alaska, supported SB 56.
He said that America has some of the fattest people in the
world. When he was a kid there was no need to push play. It was
assumed children would want to play. Not having activity in
classes creates problems. He is 110 percent behind this bill.
Kids should be out there having fun during recess. He suggested
that removing the pressure to teach advanced math would free up
more time in the academic schedule.
10:48:10 AM
DAVID NEES, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, stated support
for SB 56 with some concerns. He said he likes the change from
"may" to "shall" but worries that a mandate may take time from
instruction. He suggested inserting language to ensure that
local boards cannot shorten school-day instruction to
accommodate increased physical activity. He highlighted that as
written, the bill does not mandate a physical education
component taught by a professional that does not take time from
outdoor recess or academic instruction. Responding to Senator
Birch's question, he explained that students can opt out of
physical education beginning in about sixth or seventh grade if
they participate in an activity outside of school hours. In high
school, students can earn credit for such extracurricular
activities. He summarized that he likes the concept but would
like the implementation to be tightened.
10:50:48 AM
CHAIR STEVENS held SB 56 in committee.
10:50:55 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Stevens adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
meeting at 10:50 a.m.