{"id":111878,"date":"2026-01-09T15:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T15:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/111878\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T15:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T15:07:09","slug":"florida-lawmakers-to-consider-mandatory-recess-for-middle-schoolers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/111878\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida lawmakers to consider mandatory recess for middle schoolers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Florida Florida bill to require recess in middle school<\/a> <\/p>\n

Elementary schools in Florida are required to give students 20 minutes of recess each day and now Florida lawmakers are considering a plan to expand the recess requirement through 8th grade. FOX 13’s Kellie Cowan reports.<\/p>\n

TALLAHASSEE – A new proposal filed in Tallahassee aims to give older kids a break during the school day.<\/a><\/p>\n

Right now, Florida law only requires daily recess for elementary school students. Middle school students are not guaranteed free play or social time during the school day.<\/p>\n

HB 1149<\/a>\u00a0would expand the existing recess requirement through eighth grade, giving middle school students scheduled time for physical activity and social interaction outside the classroom.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the proposal point to research showing that recess improves educational outcomes, increases physical activity, and leads to better behavior during instructional time.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Health and education experts also say recess plays an important role in helping students develop communication and negotiation skills through peer interaction.<\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

In the mid 2000s, many schools across the country began cutting recess in favor of additional instructional time or short breaks inside the classroom.<\/p>\n

That trend began to reverse in Florida in 2017, when parents and educators successfully pushed lawmakers to make at least 20 minutes of free play recess a mandatory part of the elementary school day.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recess provides students with a critical opportunity to be physically active and engage socially with peers.<\/p>\n

The CDC says those benefits are important for students at all grade levels, not just younger children.<\/p>\n

READ: Tampa protesters call for ICE to leave communities after deadly shooting in Minneapolis<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

The proposal will now be considered by Florida lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session<\/a>. If approved, the expanded recess requirement would apply to public middle schools across the state starting next fall.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information in this article comes from the text of the proposed Florida legislation, research cited by education and health experts, and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n

Florida<\/a>Education<\/a>Florida Legislature<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida bill to require recess in middle school Elementary schools in Florida are required to give students 20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25632,113,47,28,30,100,29,115,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-111878","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-2020-election","9":"tag-education","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-florida-headlines","13":"tag-florida-legislature","14":"tag-florida-news","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111878","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=111878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}