One Kensington physical education teacher is hoping this is the year a bill to increase students’ exercise requirements takes hold.
For eight years, teacher Matt Slatkin and state leaders have pushed for a statewide bill that would require Maryland school districts to allocate 150 minutes of exercise per week – at least 90 in P.E. class – for elementary students, significantly more time than Montgomery County students get.
Elementary students in the county average between 45 and 60 minutes of exercise each week, one of the lowest totals in the state, according to the Maryland State Department of Education.
“This is about doing what’s right versus wrong by our children,” Slatkin said in his testimony during a hearing on the bill, House Bill 110, Thursday afternoon. “This falls under the moral obligation of ‘see something, say something’ for me and I can’t morally stay silent on this issue.”
Nearly 15 percent of Maryland children are overweight and 11 percent are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national childhood obesity rate is 18.5 percent. Children who are obese are more prone to serious health conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer, the CDC says.
Moreover, being overweight or obese puts children at a higher risk of bullying and teasing from peers, and overweight children are more likely to suffer from depression and low self-esteem, which can last into adulthood, according to research.
The CDC says children should engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity each day to prevent obesity.
Slatkin called childhood obesity a “crisis, an epidemic, an emergency, a calamity,” and said he works with incoming sixth-graders each year at “dangerously low fitness levels.”
Last year, the county school board opposed similar legislation, citing the cost it would take to implement. A legislative analysis for House Bill 110 shows the school system would have to add roughly 130 new physical education teachers at a cost of $11.9 million to meet the bill’s requirements. The school board is scheduled to vote on whether to oppose this year’s bill at its next meeting.
“I’m not opposed to the idea of more physical education. I think everybody thinks we ought to have more time for that,” District 1 board member Judy Docca said. “It would be a financial burden and we wouldn’t get extra money from the state to do it, which is the problem with state mandates – there’s never enough new money to support them.”
Sponsored by 56 delegates statewide, including seven from Montgomery County, House Bill 110 would require schools to be in compliance by July 1, but school districts could apply to receive an extension until 2022.
“I’m sure you will get push back. In general, school systems do not like change,” Slatkin said. “You are voting to improve the wellness and lives of our students and to ensure every child is getting a minimum of 90 minutes of P.E. per week in elementary school. … Please do right by our kids and come together and pass this common sense bill.”
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
