Board approves three-year waiver to condense high school PE into semester under block schedule

The Burlington Community School District board voted May 26 to renew a three-year waiver that permits high school physical education to be condensed into a single semester, a change staff said is intended to support next year’s block scheduling and to open student schedules for electives.

"This is a renewal ... it's a three-year waiver application and this was the end of our three-year cycle," Corey Johnson told the board, describing the waiver as an extension of what is already in place rather than a new program. He said the waiver lets the district condense PE into a semester so students meet the minimum state time requirement while freeing schedule space for CTE, music and other electives.

Board members asked how the waiver affects individual student options, including participation in year-round sports and other activities that might fulfill PE requirements. Johnson said there are multiple opt-out provisions "prescribed in state law" and offered to provide the board with the list of allowable opt-outs.

Director Anderson noted the district plans to pilot block-schedule pairing for sophomores next year — pairing health with PE so sophomores might effectively take PE throughout the year in a combined block. A board member voiced a personal preference for spreading PE across the year but acknowledged the scheduling trade-offs.

The board approved the waiver by voice vote. The waiver runs for three years; staff said it aligns with the district’s transition from trimester to semester/block scheduling and will be monitored for scheduling and student access outcomes.