Posted on: Saturday, November 23, 2002

Phys ed won't be cut at schools

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

Seeking to reassure the community that they do not — and they repeat, do not — plan to reduce the physical education requirement in high school, a committee of the Board of Education met yesterday to discuss childhood fitness and nutrition issues.

"The idea is to look at what we're doing, including the foods in our cafeterias," said board member Karen Knudsen.

When word recently got out about a draft recommendation to reduce the high school P.E. credit requirement, coaches and phys ed teachers across the state worried about the impact of a diminished policy at a time when childhood obesity rates are soaring.

Physical education suddenly became a hot-button issue for the board, and now the idea to cut the requirement from one year to one semester apparently has been dropped from consideration.

Member Shannon Ajifu noted that the board has met overwhelming community resistance to meddling with the physical education credit requirements. "This P.E. thing has taken on a life of its own," she said.

More than 26 percent of students in Hawai'i public schools are obese, compared with a national average of 13 to 14 percent for girls and boys, according to a new University of Hawai'i-Manoa and Brigham Young University-Hawai'i study.

And 80 percent of those teaching elementary school physical education are general classroom teachers because the state cannot afford specialists for the job.

Board members have said they likely will spend time looking at academic requirements and scheduling in the high schools if they want to add to graduation requirements, but said they would have public hearings across the state before taking any action.

Hawai'i high school students take six classes each day, which educators say can make it difficult to fit in electives such as art, band or foreign languages.

Hawai'i falls among the bulk of the states mandating only a year of physical education in high school, a standard that hasn't changed here in decades. And with schools under increasing pressure to improve students' academic performance, subjects such as physical education and the arts are being reduced or eliminated at schools nationwide.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. surgeon general have called for daily physical education from kindergarten through high school, but only two states — Illinois and New Jersey — have such a requirement.

The only community member who had signed up to speak on the P.E. issue apparently left before board members, after getting two hours into the meeting, called him to testify.

But another community member, Jerry Linville with the Hawai'i Council on Economic Education, did tell board members he was concerned about reports that the high school social studies requirement would be reduced from four credits to three, eliminating economics from the curriculum.

Board members hastened to assure Linville that they had no such plans.

"We're not going to reduce anything right now," Knudsen said. "If anything we're going to increase the (school) day."

Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.