Oak Park Elementary School District 97 is seeking a waiver from the Illinois State Board of Education to continue to schedule physical education classes every other day at the middle school level.
Illinois law requires daily physical education classes unless schools use block scheduling. Since District 97 will no longer be using a block schedule in the 2025-26 school year, it needs a waiver to continue the alternating physical education schedule.
Based on community, staff and student feedback, Gwendolyn Brooks and Percy Julian middle schools will shift away from the current block schedule to a new master schedule next year where the core classes of science, social science, English and math will be offered every day for 50-minute increments, along with one elective.
In the block format, students attended core classes every other day for 75-minute increments.
The waiver would allow physical education to remain in a block format, alternating with another elective.
A public hearing regarding the waiver will be held at the June 10 board of education meeting, with a board vote to follow that would allow application submission.
“We want to make sure we go ahead and do this waiver and make sure we are in compliance to the fullest,” said Dr. Luis De Leon, assistant superintendent of middle schools. “There are many things to take into consideration when building a schedule.”
Such waivers aren’t rare, according to De Leon. For instance, the district’s K-5 elementary schools have a waiver to offer 60 minutes of physical education class per week, in addition to daily recess and 15 minutes daily of physical education activity (PEA).
Under the new 2025-26 master schedule, students will have a 36-minute lunch/recess period and a 36-minute What I Need (WIN) block, a dedicated time for students to receive targeted enrichment or intervention support, for a total block of 72 minutes.
Plus, De Leon said, there are holistic wellness opportunities before and after school, in the form of clubs and sports.
“Like anything new, there will be things we have to troubleshoot and make changes,” he said. “I think we are responding to the community’s goal.”