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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1252 FILED ON: 1/19/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 350 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Michael F. Rush |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to physical and social recess in schools. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Michael F. RushNorfolk and SuffolkPaul McMurtry11th Norfolk2/8/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1252 FILED ON: 1/19/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 350 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Rush, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 350) of Michael F. Rush and Paul |
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| 19 | 19 | | McMurtry for legislation relative to physical and social recess in schools. Education. |
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| 20 | 20 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 383 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act relative to physical and social recess in schools. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 1G of Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2inserting at the end thereof the following new paragraph:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 All children in grades kindergarten through five attending public schools shall receive |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4one hundred minutes of supervised, safe, and unstructured free-play recess each week so that |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5there are at least twenty consecutive minutes of free-play recess per day. As used herein, the term |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6"free play" means an unstructured environment, but which is supervised by appropriate school |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7personnel or staff. Regulations promulgated by the department may not exclude recess from |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8structured learning time requirements for elementary school children and may not increase the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9total number of hours required in the school year to meet the provisions of this subsection. 2 of 2 |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10 SECTION 2. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11section 4A, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, the following section:- |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12 Section 4B. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no public |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13elementary school shall decrease the amount of time it allots and provides to students as recess |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14time designed to allow students to participate in physical and social activities as a result of any |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15changes in standards or curriculum that the school is required to or chooses to adopt. For |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16purposes of this section, “elementary school” shall mean a school providing instruction to grades |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17K through 5, and, where so designated by a school committee prior to the commencement of a |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18school year, may also include a middle school or other intermediate level school providing |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19instruction to grades 5 through 6 or any combination thereof. |
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