HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1706 FILED ON: 2/10/2021
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Marjorie C. Decker
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to recess for elementary school children.
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PETITION OF:
NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED:
Marjorie C. Decker 25th Middlesex 2/10/2021
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 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1706 FILED ON: 2/10/2021
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No.
[Pin Slip]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)
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An Act relative to recess for elementary school children.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 1G of Chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018
2 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following new paragraph:-
3 All children in grades kindergarten through five attending public schools shall receive
4 supervised, safe, and unstructured free-play recess so that there are at least twenty consecutive
5 minutes of free-play recess per day. As used herein, the term "free-play" means an unstructured
6 environment, but which is supervised by appropriate school personnel or staff. Regulations
7 promulgated by the department may not exclude recess from structured learning time
8 requirements for elementary school children and may not increase the total number of hours
9 required in the school year to meet the provisions of this subsection.
10 SECTION 2. Chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition,
11 is hereby amended by inserting after section 4A the following new section:-
12 Section 4B. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no public
13 elementary school shall decrease the amount of time it allots and provides to students as recess
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14 time designed to allow students to participate in physical and social activities as a result of any
15 changes in standards or curriculum that the school is required to or chooses to adopt. For
16 purposes of this section, “elementary school” shall mean a school providing instruction to grades
17 K through 5, and, where so designated by a school committee prior to the commencement of a
18 school year, may also include a middle school or other intermediate level school providing
19 instruction to grades 5 through 6 or any combination thereof.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text: