Florida Bill Would End Middle School Physical Education

By Sammy Mack -

A bill that would repeal a middle school physical education requirement is one step closer to making it though Florida’s next legislative session.

House Bill 4057 would repeal a mandate that children in sixth through eighth grades take physical education classes. Tuesday, the bill passed 9-6 in the K-20 Innovation Subcommittee.

To supporters, ending the requirement would ease pressures on overburdened schools. To opponents, the bill would exacerbate childhood obesity.

HB 4057 pits local control against public health. (Nuchylee / freedigitalphotos.net)

“Your middle school years are some of the most formative years for kids,” said HB 4057 opponent James Mosteller of the Florida chapter of the American Heart Association. “They pick up habits for the rest of their lives.”

Mosteller said that with a third of children in Florida obese or overweight, “it makes no sense to peel back and come away from those opportunities.”

For his part, bill sponsor Rep. Larry Metz (R., Yalaha) said in an email that the bill is grounded in a belief that this is an issue of local control – “not opposition to physical education.”

Metz, who was a Lake County School Board member, wrote that the current requirement for P.E. comes without funding and “those who want or need to take physical education in middle school should do so electively.”

Mosteller and the AHA fear that won’t be possible without the mandate. Mosteller imagines that budget-strapped schools may cut P.E. programs – despite evidence that P.E. has a positive effect on classroom performance.

If entire programs are cut, “then there is no choice,” says Mosteller.

This reporter can be reached at smack@miamiherald.com