09 LC 33
2815
House
Bill 229
By:
Representatives Coleman of the
97th,
Dickson of the
6th,
Maxwell of the
17th,
Kaiser of the
59th,
Ashe of the
56th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Part 3 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to the health of students in elementary and
secondary education, so as to enact the "Student Health and Physical Education
Act"; to require local school systems to conduct an annual fitness assessment
and to comply with state physical education instruction requirements; to provide
for reporting of results; to provide for an annual report to the Governor; to
provide for a recognition program; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
This
Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Student Health and Physical
Education Act" or "SHAPE Act."
SECTION
2.
Part
3 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to the health of students in elementary and secondary
education, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as
follows:
"20-2-776.
(a)(1)
Beginning in the 2011-2012 school year, each local school system shall conduct
an annual fitness assessment program, as approved by the State Board of
Education, one time each school year for students in grades four through 12, to
be conducted only during a physical education course in which a student is
enrolled. Such assessments shall include methods deemed by the State Board of
Education as appropriate to ascertain levels of student physical fitness. Each
local school system shall report the aggregate results of the fitness
assessments by school to the State Board of Education annually. The minimum
required contents of the report shall be determined by the State Board of
Education.
(2)
Each local school system shall be required to provide at least the minimum
instruction in physical education prescribed by the State Board of Education in
rules and regulations established pursuant to subsection (c) of Code Section
20-2-142.
(b)
The State Board of Education shall be responsible for the coordination of health
and physical education and fitness activities and requirements, including, but
not limited to, modification or promulgation of rules and regulations related
thereto. The State Board of Education shall adopt and disseminate to local
school systems standards which adequately express the most current and widely
accepted best practices and benchmarks in the areas of student health and
physical education. The State Board of Education's efforts may be supported
with state, federal, or private funding or a combination thereof.
(c)
The State Board of Education shall be authorized to collect the results of the
physical fitness assessments submitted by local school systems pursuant to
subsection (a) of this Code section.
(d)
The State Board of Education shall submit an annual report to the Governor,
beginning October 1, 2012, and annually thereafter. Such report shall include
the compliance status of each local school system and each school with
applicable State Board of Education rules and regulations. The Governor may, in
coordination with the State Board of Education, establish one or more
recognition programs to acknowledge local school systems and schools which have
most improved in their physical fitness assessments. The Governor may
collaborate with private corporations in the development and implementation of
recognition programs pursuant to this subsection, including providing monetary
or other incentives to local school systems or schools for attaining certain
levels of health status. All local school systems or schools receiving
acknowledgment through a recognition program established by the Governor
pursuant to this subsection shall also be recognized on the State Board of
Education's website."
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.