State Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) prefiled a bill for next year’s session of the Tennessee General Assembly that would revive the Presidential Fitness Test in all public schools across the Volunteer State.
In July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reestablishing the Presidential Fitness Test, which the Obama administration discontinued during the 2012-2013 school year.
Cepicky’s bill, filed as HB 1466, would require local education agencies and public charter schools to administer the federally reestablished Presidential Fitness Test to students each school year once notified by the Tennessee Department of Education, aligning the test and award criteria with those set by the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
The bill ensures students with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations or may be excused if participation is unsafe, allows the test to be given during physical education or other required physical activity periods, and prohibits test results from affecting student grades.
It also directs the Department of Education to notify schools if the test authorization is revoked and to report detailed participation and award data to the General Assembly.
Cepicky said his bill is “a vital step in continued Republican efforts to make Tennessee healthy again by encouraging active lifestyles and a balanced diet,” pointing to a report that shows nearly 40 percent of Tennessee students were overweight or obese in the 2023-24 academic year.
“Physical fitness is vital to improving the well-being of children across the Volunteer State. Students will once again get to experience the healthy competition and patriotism associated with the time-honored Presidential Fitness Test,” he added.
The Presidential Fitness Test, established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, consists of a one-mile run, pull-ups or push-ups, sit-ups, a shuttle run, and a sit-and-reach test.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
