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//O.C.G.A. § 20-2-777 //

GEORGIA CODECopyright 2009 by The State of GeorgiaAll rights reserved.

*** Current through the 2009 Regular Session ***

TITLE 20. EDUCATION CHAPTER 2. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ARTICLE 16. STUDENTS PART 3. HEALTH

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-777 (2009)

§ 20-2-777. Annual fitness assessment program; reporting and compliance (a) (1) Beginning in the 2011-2012 school year, each local school system shall conduct an annual fitness assessment program, as approved and funded by the State Board of Education, one time each school year for students in grades one through 12, to be conducted only during a physical education course that is taught by a certificated physical education teacher in which a student is enrolled. Such assessments shall include methods deemed by the State Board of Education as appropriate to ascertain levels of student physical fitness. Each local school system shall report the individual results of the fitness assessment to the parent or guardian of each student assessed and the aggregate results of the fitness assessments by school to the State Board of Education annually in a format approved and funded by the State Board of Education. The minimum required contents of the report shall be determined by the State Board of Education. (2) Each local school system shall be required to provide at least the minimum instruction in physical education prescribed by the State Board of Education in rules and regulations established pursuant to subsection (c) of Code Section 20-2-142.(b) The State Board of Education shall be responsible for the coordination of health and physical education and fitness activities and requirements, including, but not limited to, modification or promulgation of rules and regulations related thereto. The State Board of Education shall adopt and disseminate to local school systems standards which adequately express the most current and widely accepted best practices and benchmarks in the areas of student health and physical education. The State Board of Education's efforts may be supported with state, federal, or private funding or a combination thereof.(c) The State Board of Education shall submit an annual report to the Governor, beginning October 1, 2012, and annually thereafter. Such report shall include the compliance status of each local school system and each school with applicable State Board of Education rules and regulations. The Governor may, in coordination with the State Board of Education, establish one or more recognition programs to acknowledge local school systems and schools which have most improved in their physical fitness assessments. The Governor may collaborate with private corporations in the development and implementation of recognition programs pursuant to this subsection, including providing monetary or other incentives to local school systems or schools for attaining certain levels of health status. All local school systems or schools receiving acknowledgment through a recognition program established by the Governor pursuant to this subsection shall also be recognized on the State Board of Education's website.(d) This Code section, except for subsection (b), shall be repealed on June 30, 2019.**HISTORY:** Code 1981, § 20-2-777, enacted by Ga. L. 2009, p. 191, § 1/HB 229.

Online PE class is more than mouse clicks
By JEFF GUSSOW © St. Petersburg Times published August 5, 2002

[Times photo: Douglas R. Clifford] High school student Jeff Gussow runs a one-mile circuit through his Palm Harbor neighborhood. || Taking a class such as English or algebra online probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow. But physical education? The mere mention that my online class is PE (now known as personal fitness) brings the "You've got to be kidding" look from friends and laughs from adults. But it's how I spent part of my summer vacation. Going to class meant traveling from my bed to the PC. But don't think that I sat in front of a computer and did curls by lifting a monitor, or worked out with mouse clicks and keyboard strokes. I actually had to do physical activities. Real sweat. Honest. It meant getting out of bed at 6 a.m. to run (maybe trudge would be more accurate) through the neighborhood to fulfill the mile-run requirement. It meant time at a park doing pullups. It meant having my mother hold my feet down (or at least try to) as I did curlups. It meant lifting weights at the gym. While that is what I would do if I took the class at my high school, taking an online class is different. And it starts with getting accepted at the Florida Virtual School ([|www.flvs.net]), whose motto is "Any time, any place, any path, any pace." It's a 5-year-old school that originally was called the Florida Online High School. It offers a variety of classes, ranging from science to math, English to PE. It is free to students in Florida, even those who are home schooled. Credits earned there are recognized in all school districts. Its funding comes from the state. To get started, you register online at the virtual school's Web site, then print out the completed forms. Those have to be signed by your school guidance counselor and your parents, then mailed or faxed to the virtual school. My first attempt to sign up failed because the summer class was full. I tried for fall but got a second chance for the summer when the school added spaces. The teacher, Sherry Holloway from near Gainesville, called in June to talk to me and my parents, introducing herself and explaining requirements. Communication is an important part of the class, and it's more than just e-mail. Lessons are online, and some tests are taken on the Web and timed. The teacher called my parents with a progress report, and I had to fax and mail documents showing that I had completed the required work. A traditional course takes between 15 and 18 weeks; summer courses are eight to 11 weeks. And students can work at their own pace. I did four assignments in one night, for example. How does the teacher know if you actually do all the exercises that you claim? Your parents. You didn't think that they just let kids put down any numbers and turn them in for a grade? We'd never get away with that. To keep us honest, parents must sign workout logs that are sent to the teacher. Turning in some assignments proved difficult, especially when the fax machine didn't work. It's not like a regular class where you can put your homework on the teacher's desk. And it is very different from regular high school. After nine weeks, I didn't know what my teacher looked like (though she has a very Southern accent) or who my classmates were. I could pass them in the mall or sit by them in a movie theater and never know it. There is no yearbook at the end of the school year, and the cafeteria special is whatever is in your refrigerator. Your locker is the floor in your room (yeah, yeah, I'll clean it up soon), and you don't have to carry around any of your books because it's all on your computer. I'm not sure about my classmates' reasons, but I took this class online so I could take another elective, such as law studies, at my high school. Perhaps some people will never comprehend the idea of a personal fitness course online. But it made the grade for me. - Jeff Gussow, the son of Times personal technology editor Dave Gussow, will be a junior at Palm Harbor University High School.
 * [[image:http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/05/photos/tech-GUSSOW.jpg width="199" height="302" caption="photo"]]

What do you think about Online PE Classes?? Write your opinions on the discussion page.


 * Here are some sites about Physical Education: **

[|www.sparkpe.org]

www.pecentral.org

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