A Bill to Require 30 Minutes of Daily Recess in Public Elementary Schools
Public elementary schools must give every K-5 student at least 30 minutes of recess each school day.
Every public elementary school shall provide students in grades K-5 at least 30 minutes of recess every school day.
$40 million to help schools build or fix playgrounds.
The Department of Education will check schools that get Title I money.
Starts at the beginning of the next school year.
Mechanical parts, sourced & timed
Use this as your pre-round checklist. Memorize the source citation. Time yourself to the delivery target.
- Bill / Number
- H.R. 12 — A Bill to Require 30 Minutes of Daily Recess in Public Elementary Schools
- Funding source
- $40M general fund appropriation to Dept. of Education facilities grants.
- Timeline
- Effective next school year.
- Realistic — schedule changes only, no construction needed.
- Enforcing agency
- U.S. Department of Education (Title I audits).
- Yes — ED already conditions Title I dollars on policy compliance.
- Penalty for non-compliance
- Loss of a share of Title I formula funds for non-compliant schools.
- Source citation
- CDC, Murray et al. (2019), 'The Crucial Role of Recess in School' — cdc.gov.
- Delivery time (read aloud)
- 1:00 (60s)
Federal recess mandates intrude on local school-board control of the school day.
The bill sets a 30-minute floor, not a schedule — districts still pick when. And federal Title I money has always come with strings; this one is backed by CDC pediatric-health evidence.