1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; providing for health and
1.3 	physical education course requirements; amending
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 120B.021,
1.5 	subdivision 1; 120B.024.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.021,
1.8 	subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Required academic standards.  The
1.10 	following subject areas are required for statewide
1.11 	accountability:
1.12 	(1) language arts;
1.13 	(2) mathematics;
1.14 	(3) science;
1.15 	(4) social studies, including history, geography,
1.16 	economics, and government and citizenship;
1.17 	(5) health and physical education, for which locally
1.18 	developed academic standards apply; and
1.19 	(6) the arts, for which statewide or locally developed
1.20 	academic standards apply, as determined by the school district.
1.21 	Public elementary and middle schools must offer at least three
1.22 	and require at least two of the following four arts areas:
1.23 	dance; music; theater; and visual arts.  Public high schools
1.24 	must offer at least three and require at least one of the
1.25 	following five arts areas:  media arts; dance; music; theater;
2.1 	and visual arts.
2.2 	The commissioner must submit proposed standards in science
2.3 	and social studies to the legislature by February 1, 2004.
2.4 	For purposes of applicable federal law, the academic standards
2.5 	for language arts, mathematics, and science apply to all public
2.6 	school students, except the very few students with extreme
2.7 	cognitive or physical impairments for whom an individualized
2.8 	education plan team has determined that the required academic
2.9 	standards are inappropriate.  An individualized education plan
2.10 	team that makes this determination must establish alternative
2.11 	standards.
2.12 	A school district, no later than the 2007-2008 school year,
2.13 	must adopt graduation requirements that meet or exceed state
2.14 	graduation requirements established in law or rule.  A school
2.15 	district that incorporates these state graduation requirements
2.16 	before the 2007-2008 school year must provide students who enter
2.17 	the 9th grade in or before the 2003-2004 school year the
2.18 	opportunity to earn a diploma based on existing locally
2.19 	established graduation requirements in effect when the students
2.20 	entered the 9th grade.  District efforts to develop, implement,
2.21 	or improve instruction or curriculum as a result of the
2.22 	provisions of this section must be consistent with sections
2.23 	120B.10, 120B.11, and 120B.20.
2.24 	School districts must maintain the same physical education
2.25 	and health education requirements for kindergarten through 8th
2.26 	grade students adopted for the 2004-2005 school year through the
2.27 	2007-2008 school year.  Beginning in the 2008-2009 school year,
2.28 	public elementary school students must participate in physical
2.29 	education for at least 150 minutes during the school week and
2.30 	health education for at least 50 hours a school year.  Beginning
2.31 	in the 2008-2009 school year, public 7th and 8th grade students
2.32 	must participate in physical education for at least 225 minutes
2.33 	per week and health education for at least 50 hours a school
2.34 	year.

2.35 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.024, is
2.36 	amended to read:
3.1 	120B.024 GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS; COURSE CREDITS.
3.2 	Students beginning 9th grade in the 2004-2005 school year
3.3 	and later must successfully complete the following high school
3.4 	level course credits for graduation:
3.5 	(1) four credits of language arts;
3.6 	(2) three credits of mathematics, encompassing at least
3.7 	algebra, geometry, statistics, and probability sufficient to
3.8 	satisfy the academic standard;
3.9 	(3) three credits of science, including at least one credit
3.10 	in biology;
3.11 	(4) three and one-half credits of social studies,
3.12 	encompassing at least United States history, geography,
3.13 	government and citizenship, world history, and economics or
3.14 	three credits of social studies encompassing at least United
3.15 	States history, geography, government and citizenship, and world
3.16 	history, and one-half credit of economics taught in a school's
3.17 	social studies or business department;
3.18 	(5) one credit in the arts; and 
3.19 	(6) one credit in physical education and one credit in
3.20 	health education; and 
3.21 	(7) a minimum of seven five elective course credits.
3.22 	A course credit is equivalent to a student successfully
3.23 	completing an academic year of study or a student mastering the
3.24 	applicable subject matter, as determined by the local school
3.25 	district.