Rockford, Illinois – The Rockford Public School District moved forward with a formal waiver request to the Illinois State Board of Education regarding the frequency of elementary physical‑education (PE) classes. The district hosted a public input session to explain the proposal and answer community questions.

Why the waiver is needed

District officials say the waiver is a paperwork step to confirm that the current practice—PE two to three times per week—is consistent with state requirements. “We’re not changing or doing something different with the curriculum. We’re not reducing the amount of PE,” said Sarah Brenner, the district’s Chief Improvement Officer. “There won’t be a change for this school year or what students experienced previously.”

Balancing academics and specials

Rockford Public Schools treats PE as one of several “specials” alongside art and music, rotating on a schedule that fits a packed school day. Brenner explained that formalizing the waiver simply documents a long‑standing practice: “We’re just trying to, as a system, make sure we’re doing what’s required, get those things filed because they should be, because always this has been the practice that we’ve been doing, we just hadn’t formally submitted to the state.”

Community response

Local youth leaders voiced concerns that students need more activity time. “I think it’s a no‑no. We should have PE five days out of the week. We need to pull our kids off the laptops,” said John Tac Brantley, a leader of a Rockford youth organization. He added that many families lack the resources for extracurricular gym programs.

Impact on academic time

The district stressed that moving to daily PE would require cutting minutes from core subjects such as math and English language arts. “If our student day was not extended, it would mean a reduction of some content area or some subject,” Brenner noted, underscoring the need to preserve instructional time for core academics.

Next steps

The waiver will be discussed again at the school board meeting next month, with the district required to submit the request before December. If approved, the waiver would remain in effect for five years, allowing the district to continue its current PE schedule while maintaining compliance with state guidelines.

Recess remains daily

Despite the limited PE frequency, the district confirmed that recess continues every school day, providing students with daily outdoor activity.

Original reporting: WIFR Rockford News First (local) — read the source article.