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District 97 board approves submission of three‑year physical‑education waiver after public comment
Summary
After public testimony from teachers, parents and a recent student, the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education voted to approve submitting a three‑year waiver request to state authorities to allow a new middle‑school master schedule that reduces physical‑education minutes.
The Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education voted to approve submitting a three‑year waiver request to state authorities that would permit a revised middle‑school schedule that reduces the frequency and total minutes of required physical education and alters health‑education delivery.
Teachers, a retired educator and a recent graduate urged the board not to approve the waiver and warned of lost instructional time. Jeff Featherstone, a physical‑education teacher at Julian Middle School, said the new schedule reduces PE from 75 minutes to 50 minutes on the days it meets and “students will miss 75 minutes of physical education every 2 weeks with the new schedule compared to the current schedule.” Deanna Hart, a current PE teacher at Julian, told the board the health curriculum also faces large reductions: “Health is going to be going from over 2,000 minutes of instruction per year for the kids to only 750 minutes of instruction per year.”
Why this matters: district staff said the schedule change is part of a broader master‑schedule redesign that rebalances time across core academics, exploratory classes and interventions. Teachers and community members told the board that daily PE and the current health‑education sequence support students’ physical and mental health, and they urged the board to seek a schedule that meets state requirements without a waiver.
Board and staff discussion focused on tradeoffs and monitoring. Superintendent Shaw and middle‑school leaders said the waiver would not be permanent and that the district plans to treat it as a multi‑year pilot: staff will review implementation and report back during the waiver period. Assistant Superintendent Doctor De Leon described a plan for ongoing checks with staff and trimester‑level monitoring so the board can reassess as the district collects data.
Action taken: a motion to approve submission of the district’s physical‑education waiver request passed. Recorded voting in the meeting record shows five board members voting yes and one no; the motion carried. The waiver approved for submission covers a three‑year period, per district staff comments.
Closing notes: Speakers asked the board to consider schedule alternatives that would restore daily PE and preserve required health‑education weeks. The board directed staff to monitor implementation and return with specific metrics and periodic updates during the waiver period.
