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| 1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section | ||||||
| 5 | 27-6.3 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (105 ILCS 5/27-6.3 new) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 27-6.3. Play time required in elementary school. | ||||||
| 8 | (a) All public schools shall provide daily time for | ||||||
| 9 | supervised, unstructured, child-directed play for all students | ||||||
| 10 | in kindergarten through grade 8. Play time must allow | ||||||
| 11 | unstructured play, and may include organized games, but shall | ||||||
| 12 | not include the use of computers, tablets, phones, or videos. | ||||||
| 13 | Schools are encouraged to provide play time outdoors, but it | ||||||
| 14 | may be held indoors. If play time is held indoors, schools are | ||||||
| 15 | encouraged to provide it in a space that promotes physical | ||||||
| 16 | activity. Time spent dressing or undressing for outdoor play | ||||||
| 17 | time shall not count towards the daily time for play. | ||||||
| 18 | (b) Play time shall not count as a course of physical | ||||||
| 19 | education that fulfills the requirements of Section 27-6, nor | ||||||
| 20 | shall time spent in a course of physical education count | ||||||
| 21 | towards the daily time for play. | ||||||
| 22 | (c) Play time shall be considered clock hours for the | ||||||
| 23 | purposes of Section 10-19.05. For any school day 5 clock hours | ||||||
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| 1 | or longer in length, the total time allotted for play must be | ||||||
| 2 | at least 60 minutes. For any school day less than 5 clock hours | ||||||
| 3 | in length, the total time allotted for play each school day | ||||||
| 4 | must be at least one-fifth of a day of attendance for the | ||||||
| 5 | student pursuant to Section 10-19.05. Play time may be divided | ||||||
| 6 | into play periods of at least 15 consecutive minutes in | ||||||
| 7 | length. | ||||||
| 8 | (d) To the maximum extent appropriate, pursuant to | ||||||
| 9 | subsection (d) of Section 14-8.02, students with disabilities | ||||||
| 10 | shall participate in play time with students who do not have a | ||||||
| 11 | disability. Special activities in play time shall be provided | ||||||
| 12 | for pupils whose physical or emotional condition, as | ||||||
| 13 | determined by a person licensed under the Medical Practice Act | ||||||
| 14 | of 1987, prevents his or her participation in play time. | ||||||
| 15 | (e) All public schools shall prohibit the withholding of | ||||||
| 16 | play time as a disciplinary or punitive action, except when a | ||||||
| 17 | student's participation in play time poses an immediate threat | ||||||
| 18 | to the safety of the student or others. School officials shall | ||||||
| 19 | make all reasonable efforts to resolve such threats and | ||||||
| 20 | minimize the use of exclusion from play to the greatest extent | ||||||
| 21 | practicable and in accordance with subsection (d).
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| 22 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
| 23 | 2021.
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