85R4936 SRS-D
By: Watson S.B. No. 355
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the adoption and implementation of a recess policy by
public school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.0042 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0042. RECESS POLICY. (a) The board of trustees of
each school district shall:
(1) after reviewing the policy recommendations of the
local school health advisory council provided under Section
28.004(l), adopt a recess policy; and
(2) review and, if necessary, revise the recess policy
at least every five years.
(b) The recess policy must specify:
(1) the required number of minutes of weekly
unstructured playtime; and
(2) whether a student's recess time may be withheld as
a form of student discipline.
(c) Each school district campus subject to the district
recess policy adopted under Subsection (a) shall implement the
recess policy.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than May 1, 2018, the board of
trustees of each school district shall adopt a recess policy as
required by Section 28.0042, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than the beginning of the 2018-2019 school
year, each school district campus subject to a school district
recess policy adopted under Section 28.0042, Education Code, as
added by this Act, shall implement the adopted policy.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.