REFERENCE TITLE: ADE; youth fitness; pilot program

State of Arizona Senate Fifty-second Legislature Second Regular Session 2016

SB 1508

Introduced by Senators Begay, Dial, Driggs

 

AN ACT

 

establishing the empower youth fitness pilot program; appropriating monies.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1.  Empower youth fitness pilot program; service provider; criteria; report; program termination

A.  The department of education shall establish a two‑year empower youth fitness pilot program to improve the physical education, health education, fitness levels and healthy nutrition behavior of low‑income pupils.  The department of education may not distribute any monies appropriated for the pilot program until the department receives at least an additional $470,000 in monies from other public or private sources to fund the pilot program.

B.  On or before September 30, 2016, schools that are operated by school districts, charter schools and tribal schools that wish to participate in the pilot program shall submit an application to the department of education.

C.  The department of education shall select a service provider to implement the pilot program not later than September 30, 2016.  The department shall select a service provider that meets all of the following requirements:

1.  Has allocated at least $100,000 in non-state-appropriated monies specifically for the pilot program.

2.  Has personnel who have demonstrated expertise in leading youth fitness programs for at least one year, have previously conducted training and assessments conducted under the presidential youth fitness program and have developed and implemented school wellness plans in at least ten schools.

3.  Has a health-related fitness process.

4.  Has provided physical education teacher professional development and technical assistance to optimize moderate‑to‑vigorous physical activity.

5.  Has previously worked with physical education and classroom and other school staff and student volunteers in at least ten schools to reach an average of sixty minutes of moderate‑to‑vigorous physical activity for at least twenty‑five percent of students.

6.  Has helped to develop volunteer middle and high school student groups to effectively lead moderate‑to‑vigorous physical activity.

7.  Has at least ten years' experience in youth development leadership delivering wellness policy impact and starting up and scaling operations to thousands of users and comprehensive systemic rather than programmatic approaches.

8.  Has personnel that includes at least one president's youth fitness program national trainer.

9.  Has personnel with a track record of at least doubling average fitness levels over less than four years, for at least ten thousand students in at least ten schools.

D.  On or before November 30, 2016, the department of education shall select ninety schools from the applicants to participate in the pilot program.  The schools shall be selected based on the following criteria:

1.  The availability of certified physical education teaching personnel or other adequate physical education teaching personnel.

2.  The degree of support submitted in writing for the implementation of the pilot program.

3.  An agreement by the school to develop and implement an effective school wellness plan.

4.  An agreement by the school for personnel to be trained in assessments conducted under the presidential youth fitness program and to assess a specified number of students at least twice each year.

5.  An agreement by the school to publicly share aggregated privacy‑protected outcomes data from the assessments conducted under the presidential youth fitness program for the school as a whole.

6.  An agreement by the school for appropriate personnel to participate proactively in ongoing professional development and technical assistance for continuous improvement.

7.  School enrollment in which at least fifty percent of the pupils meet the eligibility requirements established under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts (42 United States Code sections 1751 through 1785) for free or reduced‑price lunches.

8.  Any other criteria specified by the department of education to maximize the impact of the pilot program.

E.  The department of education or the service provider selected by the department may suspend or cancel a school's participation in the pilot program if the school does not fulfill the criteria for continued  participation in the pilot program.

F.  The pilot program shall be reviewed regularly by an independent council established by the department of education that represents a broad cross-section of state government, educators, health care organizations, physical education experts, health education experts, businesses and the public, including participating Hispanic and Native American community populations.

G.  On or before September 30, 2018, the department of education shall submit to the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives a report that summarizes the results of the pilot program, including a recommendation on whether to expand the pilot program to additional schools.  The department of education shall provide a copy of this report to the secretary of state.

H.  This section is repealed from and after December 31, 2018.

Sec. 2.  Appropriation; department of education; empower youth fitness pilot program; exemption

A.  The sum of $470,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2016-2017 to the department of education for the purpose of implementing the empower youth fitness pilot program.

B.  The appropriation made in subsection A of this section is exempt from the provisions of section 35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations.