"Waiving" Goodbye to PE: State Law and School Exemption and Substitution Practices in the United States

The importance of schools providing physical education (PE) and promoting physical activity (PA) and the benefits of PA for children are well documented. However, a majority of students do not get the nationally recommended 60 min of daily PA. Many states grant waivers, substitutions, or exemptions from PE despite national recommendations. This study examined the association between state laws allowing for the use of PE substitutions and exemptions and school-level substitution and exemption practices.

School-level PE exemption and substitution data from the 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study were linked to state law data from the National Wellness Policy Study and the National Cancer Institute's 2013 Classification of Laws Associated with School Students. The analytic sample included 320 schools located in 42 states. Separate multivariable logistic regression models linked five types of school PE exemptions/substitutions to corresponding state laws, controlling for school characteristics.

Overall, 24 of the 42 states had laws addressing PE waivers, exemptions, or substitutions. Schools had higher odds of allowing PE substitutions for school sports (adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 3.59; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.33-9.68), other school activities (AOR, 8.52; 95% CI, 2.90-25.03), and community sports (AOR, 4.30; 95% CI, 1.43-12.96) and allowing exemptions for fitness test scores (AOR, 4.67; 95% CI, 1.49-14.62) or vocational training (AOR, 5.92; 95% CI, 1.04-33.68) if state law allowed it, compared with schools in states that did not allow such practices.

Given the connection between PA and beneficial outcomes for children, decision makers, school administrators, practitioners, advocates, and researchers should consider and further examine how PE waiver, exemption, and substitution policies and practices may affect students' PA and related outcomes.