S 6858 New York Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Provides for daily recess for elementary students

Summary
Requires each school district to ensure that every public school in which school days exceed five hours in duration provides up to thirty minutes of daily recess within the school day for all students in kindergarten through fifth grade and for students in sixth grade who attend an elementary school.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Mar 25, 2025 Last action May 14, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

S6858 S6858A · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to add multiple sponsors and update the legislative history. The core policy change shifts the requirement for daily recess from a mandatory minimum of thirty minutes to a maximum of up to thirty minutes, giving school districts flexibility. Additionally, the definition of 'instructional expense' was updated to include funding for supervising this recess time, ensuring districts can budget for it.
Scope change
The bill's scope regarding the number of sponsors increased, and the applicability of the recess requirement changed from a minimum mandate to a maximum limit.
REQUIREMENT

Changed the daily recess requirement from a minimum of thirty minutes to a maximum of up to thirty minutes for elementary students.

FISCAL

Added the cost of supervising up to thirty minutes of daily recess to the legal definition of 'instructional expense' to ensure funding availability.

TECHNICAL

Added four new sponsors to the bill and updated the legislative history to reflect committee recommitment and amendment.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Amendments
2
May 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 6858A
upper
May 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO EDUCATION
upper
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
REFERRED TO EDUCATION
upper
Mar 25, 2025
Committee
REFERRED TO EDUCATION
upper
1 primary · 6 co-sponsors

Sponsors