On January 9, 2003,the State Board of Education passed the Healthy Active
Children policy HSP-S-000. The following is provided as an overview of the policy. The
actual policy will follow.
Local School Health Advisory Committee
In order for this policy to be fully implemented by the
2006 – 2007 school year, schools should:
establish and maintain local School Health Advisory Councils to represent the
eight components of a coordinated school health program. (Information about school
health councils can be found at
www.nchealthyschools.org. NC Healthy Schools and DPI will be providing workshops
on School Health Advisory Councils this coming year.);
conduct a needs assessment on health services and programs;
provide an action plan to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction by
July 15, 2004; and
provide progress reports by July 15, 2005 and 2006.
In addition, the annual report will contain the number of minutes provided for
children in physical education and in physical activity yearly.
Physical Education / Physical Activity
Each school district shall require students enrolled in
pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and grade levels up to middle school to participate in
physical activity as part of the district's physical education curriculum.
Elementary schools should consider the benefits of having 150 minutes per week
and secondary schools should consider the benefits of having 225 minutes per week of
physical activity that will include a minimum of every other day of physical
education throughout the 180-day school year. (NC DPI has demonstration schools and
other models for schools to refer to for ideas. The 2001 demonstration schools are
located on our web site at
www.ncpublicschools.org/educators/pe_demos2001.html.
The physical education course is defined and should be the same class size as
other regular classes.
Appropriate amounts of recess and physical activity will be provided for
students and for duration sufficient to provide a significant health benefit to
students.
Recess
Structured recess and other physical activity shall not be
taken away as a form of punishment.
Coordinated School Health Programs
The State Board of Education shall make available to each
school district a coordinated school health model and training opportunities which
provide for coordinating the following eight (8) components: safe environment;
physical education; health education; staff wellness; health services; mental and
social health; nutrition services; and parent/family involvement.
You can access the HSP-S-000 policy online at
http://sbepolicy.dpi.state.nc.us/.
For more information on the Healthy Active Children policy or technical assistance, please
contact:
