![\"Florida](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/xgz6w8xjb9vl0zpz.jpg\")
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ORLANDO, Fla. – A bill filed in the Florida House would require recess for middle school students, expanding a mandate that currently applies only to elementary schools.<\/p>\n
House Bill 1149 would extend required recess from kindergarten through fifth grade to kindergarten through eighth grade, adding structured free-play time for students in grades six through eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Big picture view:<\/p>\n
The proposal calls for 100 minutes of recess per week, matching the current requirement for elementary students.<\/p>\n
The bill was filed by Rep. Paula Stark of St. Cloud but was inspired by three Osceola County middle school students who developed the idea during the county\u2019s Build-a-Bill competition. The students argued that short breaks during the school day help reduce stress, improve focus and support social development.<\/p>\n
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX LOCAL APP<\/a><\/p>\n Supporters say recess would give middle schoolers time to socialize, read or get fresh air, similar to the role study hall once played.\u00a0<\/p>\n SIGN-UP FOR FOX 35’S BREAKING NEWS, DAILY NEWS NEWSLETTERS<\/a><\/p>\n The proposal comes after lawmakers last year abandoned efforts to eliminate Florida\u2019s recess requirement following public opposition.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n If approved, the expanded recess mandate would take effect July 1.<\/p>\n The Source: This story was written based on language in House Bill 1149 and interview with Osceola County middle school students who developed the idea during the county\u2019s Build-a-Bill competition.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Florida News<\/a>Education<\/a>Politics<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. – A bill filed in the Florida House would require recess for middle school students, expanding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[113,47,115,139,141,140,99,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-111430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-orlando","12":"tag-orlando-headlines","13":"tag-orlando-news","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}