Minutes of the May 4, 2004 meeting of the Commissioners at 600 Grant at 7:30 am - 9:00 a.m.

Present: Co-chairs Elaine Berman, DPS Board of Education and Dr. Reggie Washington, pediatric cardiologist and co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatric's National Task Force on Childhood Obesity; James Hill, UCHSC; Rick Metz, CAHPERD; Melissa Parker,UNC; Darryl Moore, Governer's Council/Physical Fitness; Peggy Vigil, CO Sprgs District 11;Mary Lou Miller, Jeffco PE Coord; Dr. Sandy Stenmark, Kaiser Permanente; Dr. Nancy Krebs, UCHSC/TCH, Cathy Romaniello, UCHSC; Andrea Dunn, Cooper Institute: Dr. David Kaplan,UCHSC/TCH; Dr. Paul Melinkovich, Denver Health; Jillian Jacobellis, CDPHE; Tami Anderson, WDC; Marilyn Day, TCH, Donna Wittrock, DPS; Evie Dennis,fmr DPS Supt.; Happy Haynes, Mayor's Office; Angela Baier, City and City of Denver

Absent: Andrea Dunn, Jillian Jacobellis

Guests: Eric Larson, DPS Coordinator, Physical Education Dr. Washington opened the meeting by requesting that, for the purpose of reviewing all of the material available within the hour, the commissioners hold their questions until Eric had completed his presentation. The two co-chairs were to ask questions only as a point of clarification for the rest of the commission.

Presentation:

Eric's PowerPoint is attached to these minutes. It includes a comparison of national, state and district standards as well as a review of typical programs for elementary, middle and high school. Examples of the degree of variability across DPS programs were outlined as well the fiscal and time pressures that drive the variances.

The commissioners then spent the remainder of the presentation time asking specific questions about aspects of the program that impact student participation e.g requirements/certifications of instructors, reasons for decreases in time spent in physical activities, competing curriculum requirements such as literacy blocks and varying degrees of parental support across the district.

Issues raised by the commissioners included the following: the possibility that the curriculum for physical education may need to be revised ; that the interrelationships among P.E., recess, intramural athletics and after school sports deserves additional attention, that we review the data that can be mined from what's already available in the

District record.

Of particular interest is a search for any recent research that speaks to a correlation between fitness and academic achievement and to discover any trends between a school's PE practices and school CSAP scores in the district. Finally we will review NASPE research to determine whether decrease in physical activity in school in a national trend. It was the consensus of the group that they are as concerned about a students overall physical activity during the school day as they are about formal curriculum approaches. Eric will also update us next session on how other specialized disciplines like music and art stack up against PE in terms of budget expended and participation.

Business Meeting:

The commissioners were polled on their preference for site visits and most commissioners felt they could make the time to participate. We have agreed to focus on "unstaged" opportunities that schools don't have to prepare for such as dropping into a high school cafeteria at lunch. Co-chairs and staff will develop some choices for August when students return.

The commissioners agreed to receive research information electronically as files or web links sorted by topic and to order a printed copy from staff if they need one for themselves or their institutions.

Only 30% of the group tested the Krispy Kreme alternative the healthy DPS school breakfast. It is rumored that the superintendent's cabinet devoured the rest.

We are polling the commission members to see how many can come to the July 6th meeting since it is directly after the 4th of July holiday. If we will be missing too many members, we will reschedule.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 am.

Respectfully submitted, Laura Museo, Commission Staff