Georgia Bill Would Make School Recess Mandatory

ATLANTA, GA — Some Georgia lawmakers want to make recess mandatory in elementary schools.

House Bill 1283, also known as "the recess bill," would require schools to schedule recess daily for students in kindergarten and grades one through five.

"Each elementary school is encouraged to include an average of 30 minutes per day of supervised unstructured activity time, preferably outdoors," a portion of the bill reads.

Under the bill, local school boards would also be required to establish written policies to ensure that recess is scheduled during the day to give students a small break from academic learning.

The nonpartisan bill would prohibit schools from withholding recess for disciplinary or academic reasons.

The bill does include exceptions. Recess would not be required if reasonable circumstances prevented it, such as inclement weather, emergencies, disasters, etc.

The bill goes before the Georgia House Education Committee on Thursday at 1 p.m.

If the bill were to ultimately become law, it would go into effect for the 2022-2023 school year.

In 2019, Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed a similar bill, stating that it would "strip long-held authority from school boards.

The latest bill is sponsored by Rep. Demetrius Douglas (D), Rep. Spencer Frye (D), Rep. Noel Williams (R), Rep. Don Hogan (R), Rep. Stacey Evans (D) and Rep. Carl Gilliard (D).