Almost left for dead, a bill setting new minimum standards for recess in public schools cleared the Legislature Friday night hours before lawmakers adjourned for the year.
The Legislature resurrected the bill a day after the House shot down the legislation 40-83 after already passing the Senate 24-13.
The House reversed itself, passing the bill 74-47. The Senate backed the bill again on a 29-10 vote, five more vote than it got the first time.
The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who could veto the bill. Now adjourned, the Legislature will not have a chance for an override.
When the House voted down the recess bill the first time, it included a provision that would have kept certain chemical additives out of Kansas school lunches.
Lawmakers removed the food-additives section of the bill, after which it passed easily.
The Senate passed the food additives bill on March 10 by a 24-15 vote. The additives bill was later packaged with a pesticide labeling bill in the House that was never acted on.
Lawmakers later bundled the recess bill with the food additives bill, which later failed.
The recess bill requires 30 minutes of daily organized recess for students in kindergarten through the fifth grade. The new standard would start in the 2027-28 school year.
The time required for organized recess would be considered part of the school day.
Recess could not be limited or withheld for disciplinary reasons unless the student was determined to be a threat.
Starting in the 2026-27 school year, the bill also would require the Kansas State Board of Education to establish a fitness test aligned with the Presidential Physical Fitness Test to assess the overall fitness of students in grades one through 12.
Students would be required to take the test annually unless they have a disability or a medical exemption. It is not a condition of graduation.
Republican state Rep. Susan Estes, chair of the House Education Committee, urged lawmakers to pass the bill because the fitness test could determine how much money the state ultimately gets from a $50 billion federal program intended to reinvent rural health care.
The $50 billion was approved by Congress when it passed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill last year. The $50 billion will be allocated to approved states over five years, with $10 billion available each year from 2026 through 2030.
During 2026, states will receive awards averaging $200 million, with a range of $147 million to $281 million. Kansas received the sixth-highest award at about $222 million.
It is anticipated that Kansas could receive about $1.5 billion over the life of the program.
The state’s application for the grant money says Kansas is committed to establishing a fitness test mandate by the end of 2028.
The application says that by 2031 all rural Kansas counties will achieve statistically significant improvements in children’s performance on the Presidential Fitness Test.
“That health plan is critical to helping our rural hospitals, helping Kansans who live in rural areas where they have to go a great distance to get things like kidney dialysis and to get chemotherapy,” Estes said.
“It’s a very important grant,” she said
Estes said the federal regulations for the test are being developed and the test is being designed.
Democratic state Rep. Jerry Stogsdill of Prairie Village opposed the bill because he said it interfered with local school boards.
“This may be our last chance to go home and tell our local school board members, by golly, we appreciate what you do and we think that you, after 160 years of practice, can handle recess,” Stogsdill said.
“Let’s let our local school boards handle these kinds of issues,” he said.
Republican state Rep. David Buehler of Lansing told lawmakers that nothing less than being eligible for more rural health care grants could be at stake if the bill didn’t pass.
“We might think it’s funny or it’s something that we need to stay out of, but it is part of the rural health transformation program which we are actively participating in as a state, and it’s in our best interest to do so,” Buehler said.
Democrats had mocked the recess bill at one point, saying that Republicans spent more time on that issue than focusing on how to cut property taxes.
“I am proud of the Legislature’s work to advance solutions that help Kansas kids succeed both in and out of the classroom,” Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi said in a statement Sunday.
“I hope the governor signs this legislation as a continuation of the progress we’ve made to help Kansas students this session, including with the passage of the cell phone ban in schools.
“A third of our kids are overweight or obese, it’s critical we ensure every child has access to play and physical movement,” he said.
