Arizona Laws 15-118. Recess; requirements; exceptions; definition
A. Each school district and charter school shall provide at least two recess periods during the school day for pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one through three. From and after August 1, 2019 each school district and charter school shall provide at least two recess periods during the school day for pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one through five.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 15-118
- Charter school: means a public school established by contract with the state board of education, the state board for charter schools, a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents, a community college district or a group of community college districts pursuant to article 8 of this chapter to provide learning that will improve pupil achievement. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- Course: means organized subject matter in which instruction is offered within a given period of time and for which credit toward promotion, graduation or certification is usually given. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
- Regular school day: means the regularly scheduled class periods intended for instructional purposes. See Arizona Laws 15-901
- School district: means a political subdivision of this state with geographic boundaries organized for the purpose of the administration, support and maintenance of the public schools or an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101
B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, a school that offers a half-day kindergarten program is required to provide at least one recess period during the school day for pupils in that kindergarten program. A school district or a charter school may count a pupil’s participation in a physical education course during a school day as one of that day’s recess periods required by subsection A of this section.
C. A school district or charter school is not required to extend the school day as part of meeting the requirements of subsection A of this section.
D. This section does not apply to middle schools, junior high schools, high schools, Arizona online instruction or schools in which the lowest grade of instruction offered is grade five.
E. For the purposes of this section, "recess" means a period of time during the regular school day, including time during a scheduled lunch period, during which a pupil is able to engage in physical activity or social interaction with other pupils.