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Chicago board holds hearing on proposal to let K–8 students take mandated PE across two days
Summary
The Chicago Board of Education heard a district presentation Oct. 23 on a waiver request to allow K–8 students to receive required 120 minutes of physical education over two days per week instead of three; the board took no vote at the hearing and heard public comments on arts funding and school safety.
Chicago Board of Education officials heard a presentation Oct. 23 on a proposed waiver that would allow kindergarten through eighth-grade students to receive the district-mandated 120 minutes of physical education across two days per five-day week rather than three. The presentation was delivered by Brandon Hughes, director of PE and health in the Office of Teaching and Learning.
Hughes told the board the waiver request is intended to bring district scheduling into alignment with current practice in many schools and to address facility limitations. "Students will still receive 120 minutes of PE each week, so that's not changing," Hughes said. He said a teacher survey found a majority of respondents reporting their schools are providing two days of PE rather than three, attributing the shortfall to scheduling blocks, limited gym space in older buildings and class-size/collective-bargaining constraints.
The assistant secretary read the public notice into the record, citing a waiver of "section 27-6 of the Illinois School Code" and noting that district policy currently requires K–8 students to engage in PE a minimum of three days per five-day week for a total of at least 120 minutes per week. Hughes described the request as an effort to "cross our i's and not t's" so the district's schedule aligns with state reporting; he also said other districts have applied for similar waivers and listed several examples.
Hughes framed the waiver as a response to practical constraints: limited gym space, liability concerns when using alternative spaces, and 60-minute instructional blocks that complicate fitting three distinct PE sessions into weekly schedules. He said the district has submitted this kind of waiver "over 900 times" historically and pointed to examples of other districts pursuing two-day schedules.
No board members asked questions during or immediately after the presentation. President Sean B. Harden closed the PE waiver segment after asking for questions and hearing none. The hearing was a required public meeting for the waiver application; the board did not take a vote on the waiver during the hearing.
The hearing record includes the assistant secretary's statement that notice was published in the Chicago Sun-Times and posted on CPS websites; written comments will be accepted via the board's website and will be posted within five business days after receipt. The board's next regular meeting and any subsequent action on the waiver were not decided at this hearing.
