Dist. 59 wants more 'brain breaks', physical activity, during school day

Elk Grove Elementary District 59 officials are looking for more ways to get students moving during the school day, even as space and staffing limitations don't allow for more formalized daily physical education classes in grades K-5, they say.

The district this week applied for a renewal of its waiver allowing elementary schools to bypass a state requirement for daily physical education classes. District 59 elementary schools typically have PE classes three days a week for 40 minutes each time.

But the schools have also incorporated so-called “brain breaks” into daily classroom instruction time — 15-minute exercise routines led by classroom teachers.

A district website called GYM, short for Get Yourself Moving, provides videos for classroom teachers on different physical break exercises.

“It's not daily physical education, but we feel like we've made a lot of steps toward that,” said Maureen McAbee, the district's assistant superintendent for instruction.

“We need the students to be moving and active and stay physically active. That isn't something that we, by applying for the waiver, are trying to ignore,” she said.

On Monday, the school board is expected to discuss ways to incorporate more physical education at elementary schools. They'll hear from Will Hogan, a PE teacher at the Ridge Family Center for Learning, who chairs a district committee that has been examining the issue.

The district got its initial two-year waiver in 2014, and is allowed to renew it for a total of six years. Receiving another waiver would give the district more time to consider and plan for how to meet the daily PE requirement in future years, McAbee said.

Most other Northwest suburban elementary school districts do not offer daily PE instruction, and have also been granted waivers, McAbee said. District 59 students in grades 6-8 do have daily PE classes.

Superintendent Art Fessler said offering daily PE is not only a facilities issue, but also about the “integrity of the program.” The actual instruction time might be as little as 15 minutes per class because of setup and takedown time, he said.

District 59's waiver for grades K-5 is pending approval by the state board of education and General Assembly.