Public Act 098-0859
 
HB5397 EnrolledLRB098 18839 OMW 53984 b


  
    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
    WHEREAS, Regular physical activity is associated with a 
healthier, longer life and a lower risk of cardiovascular 
disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and some 
cancers; and
 
    WHEREAS, Physical activity offers young people many health 
benefits, including improved aerobic endurance and muscular 
strength, better weight control, and the opportunity to build 
lean muscle and bone mass and reduce fat; and
 
    WHEREAS, Physically fit children have higher scholastic 
achievement, better classroom behavior, a greater ability to 
focus, and less absenteeism than their physically unfit 
counterparts;

and
 
    WHEREAS, One important way to stop this rise in childhood 
obesity is by establishing lifelong physical activity habits 
with strong physical education programs and regular physical 
activity opportunities in our nation's schools, both during and 
outside of the regular school day; and
 
    WHEREAS, The Enhance Physical Education Task Force, 
established by Public Act 97-1102, recommended enhancing 
physical education to increase the amount of time students 
spend in moderate to vigorous physical activity, with an 
emphasis on fitness, skill-building, and cooperation; 
therefore


 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by adding Section 
27-6.5 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27-6.5 new)
    Sec. 27-6.5. Physical fitness assessments in schools.
    (a) As used in this Section, "physical fitness assessment" 
means a series of assessments to measure aerobic capacity, body 
composition, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and 
flexibility.
    (b) To measure the effectiveness of State Goal 20 of the 
Illinois Learning Standards for Physical Development and 
Health, beginning with the 2016-2017 school year and every 
school year thereafter, the State Board of Education shall 
require all public schools to use a scientifically-based, 
health-related physical fitness assessment for grades 3 
through 12 and periodically report fitness information to the 
State Board of Education, as set forth in subsections (c) and 
(e) of this Section, to assess student fitness indicators.
    Public schools shall integrate health-related fitness 
testing into the curriculum as an instructional tool, except in 
grades before the 3rd grade.  Fitness tests must be appropriate 
to students' developmental levels and physical abilities.  The 
testing must be used to teach students how to assess their 
fitness levels, set goals for improvement, and monitor progress 
in reaching their goals. Fitness scores shall not be used for 
grading students or evaluating teachers.
    (c) On or before October 1, 2014, the State  Superintendent 
of Education shall appoint a 15-member stakeholder and expert 
task force, including members representing organizations that 
represent physical education teachers, school officials, 
principals, health promotion and disease prevention advocates 
and experts, school health advocates and experts, and other 
experts with operational and academic expertise in the 
measurement of fitness. The task force shall make 
recommendations to the State Board of Education on the 
following:
        (1) methods for ensuring the validity and uniformity of 
    reported physical fitness assessment scores, including 
    assessment administration protocols and professional 
    development approaches for physical education teachers;
        (2) how often  physical  fitness assessment scores 
    should be reported to the State Board of Education;
        (3) the grade levels within elementary, middle, and 
    high school categories for which physical fitness 
    assessment scores should be reported to the State Board of 
    Education;
        (4) the minimum fitness indicators that should be 
    reported to the State Board of Education, including, but 
    not limited to, a score for aerobic capacity (for grades 4 
    through 12); muscular strength; endurance; and 
    flexibility;
        (5) the demographic information that should accompany 
    the scores, including, but not limited to, grade and 
    gender;
        (6) the development of protocols regarding the 
    protection of students' confidentiality and individual 
    information and identifiers; and
        (7) how physical fitness assessment data should be
 
    reported by the State Board of Education to the public, 
    including potential correlations
with student academic 
    achievement, attendance, and
discipline data and other 
    recommended uses of the reported data.
    The State Board of Education shall provide administrative 
and other support to the task force. 
    The task force shall submit its recommendations on physical 
fitness assessments on or before April 1, 2015. The task force 
may also recommend methods for assessing student progress on 
State Goals 19 and 21 through 24 of the Illinois Learning 
Standards for Physical Development and Health.  The task force 
is dissolved on April 30, 2015.
    The provisions of this subsection (c), other than this 
sentence, are inoperative after March 31, 2016. 
    (d) On or before December 31, 2015, the State Board of 
Education shall use the recommendations of the task force under 
subsection (c) of this Section to adopt rules for the 
implementation of physical fitness assessments by each public 
school for the 2016-2017 school year and every school year 
thereafter.
    (e) On or before September 1, 2016, the State Board of 
Education shall adopt rules for data submission by school 
districts and develop a system for collecting and reporting the 
aggregated fitness information from the physical fitness 
assessments. This system shall also support the collection of 
data from school districts that use a fitness testing software 
program.
    (f) School districts may report the aggregate findings of 
physical fitness assessments by grade level and school to 
parents and members of the community through typical 
communication channels, such as Internet websites, school 
newsletters, school board reports, and presentations. 
Districts may also provide individual fitness assessment 
reports to students' parents.
    (g) Nothing in this Section precludes schools from 
implementing a physical fitness assessment before the 
2016-2017 school year or from implementing more robust forms of 
a physical fitness assessment.
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.