We, the citizens of the greater Houston area do hereby petition the Houston Independent School District (HISD) to

(i) require that all HISD elementary schools provide their students with 30 minute of free, unstructured RECESS each school day, supervised by a school faculty member;

(ii) require that all HISD elementary schools provide their students with 30 minutes of PHYSICAL EDUCATION or structured RECESS each school day, as required pursuant to Texas Senate Bill 530 (SB 530), and

(iii) cause all of its elementary schools to comply with Texas Senate Bill 892 by requiring all of its elementary school principals to include in their respective Campus Improvement Plans how their respective schools meet the PHYSICAL EDUCATION requirement of SB 530.

We, the undersigned do believe that RECESS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION are an integral part of creating a successful and more focused student as well as a healthy and well rounded child as has been stated in scientific case studies across the country, and HISD should ensure that all of its elementary school students are receiving the benefits of the laws of the GREAT STATE OF TEXAS.

http://www.krbe.com/ROULARYANSHOW/tabid/161/Default.aspx

PETITION IS PUT ON HOUSTON'S 104.1 KRBE WEB SITE!!!  Thank you Roula and Ryan!!!

012411_norecess.mp3  PODCAST OF CHRYSI ROULA AND RYAN SHOW TALKING ABOUT RECESS AND PETITION

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/tight-state-budgets-force-end-recess-125980491/12/2011 ABC NEWS George Stephanopoulos and Juju Chang report "Tight State Budgets Force an End to Recess"  ***MUST SEE THIS** 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/death-recess-12595562

Good Morning America 1/12/2011 Juju Chang "The Death of Recess"

http://msdcenter.blogspot.com/2010/11/recess-on-curb-why-taking-away-recess.html Why taking away recess may be bad for your child's health

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/phys-ed-can-exercise-make-kids-smarter/ Physical Education and smarter kids

http://www.suite101.com/content/why-kids-need-recess-a107326 Playtime improves school performance

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/123/2/431
http://www.houstonisd.org/FederalStateCompliance/Home/School%20Guidelines/Elementary%20Guidelines/EG%202010-11/EG%20Entire%202010-11.pdf Recess leads to better classroom behavior

 http://library.adoption.com/articles/no-recess-policies-being-implemented-in-u.s.-school-districts.html Research shows that the trend to eliminate recess doesn't benefit students

http://www.houstonisd.org/FederalStateCompliance/Home/School%20Guidelines/Elementary%20Guidelines/EG%202010-11/EG%20Entire%202010-11.pdf 2010-2011 HISD Elementary School Guidelines

*page 14 - refers to SB 892

*page 55 - refers to SB 892 - School Improvement Plan does NOT state for principals to include how their school meets PE requriement

*page 198-200 - refers to SB 530 requiring 30 mins. daily PE or minimum of 135 mins. per week

*page 202- Recess is not mandatory after Kindergarten AND recess does not take the place of PE