Louisiana public schools will roll out a revised set of K-12 physical education standards beginning in the 2027-28 school year, shifting classroom expectations from simply describing exercises to actually performing them, starting as early as kindergarten. The changes come as state health data show 19.1% of Louisiana children ages 10 to 17 are classified as obese, well above the 15.8% national average.
The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved the revised standards following a review process led by the Louisiana Department of Education, according to New Orleans CityBusiness. State schools Superintendent Cade Brumley said the fitness-based standards “equip students with knowledge and skills they'll use the rest of their lives to remain active,” per the same report. The review followed requirements adopted in 2017 and was carried out under a policy that mandates academic standards across all subjects be revisited at least once every seven years, a cycle laid out in Louisiana Department of Education materials under Bulletin 741 §2301.
From Naming Exercises to Actually Doing Them
The revised standards establish a progression of movement and fitness skills that builds across grade levels, requiring students to demonstrate physical skills rather than simply identify or describe them, the CityBusiness report notes. A concrete example: second-grade PE shifts from requiring students to merely identify activities that build muscular strength to actively performing those activities in class, according to Louisiana Department of Education guidance.
Louisiana students will participate in age-appropriate fitness assessments beginning in kindergarten, and those assessments are expected to measure the same areas included in the Presidential Fitness Test, per the state education department's account. The new standards also emphasize active participation, physical fitness and movement skills intended to encourage lifelong exercise, while giving teachers flexibility to meet requirements regardless of available equipment, facilities or space. Individual school systems remain responsible for selecting curricula and determining exactly how teachers meet the state academic standards.
Why the Presidential Fitness Test Isn't Written Into the Rules
President Donald Trump reinstated the Presidential Fitness Test by executive order in 2025, and Governor Jeff Landry followed with an order directing Louisiana state agencies to work toward establishing the test in the state. Landry's order specifically asked the Louisiana Department of Education to determine how the test could be incorporated into the standards review, per CityBusiness.
Despite that directive, the test does not appear explicitly in the new standards text. The department's own explanatory guidance document says the omission reflects timing: the national test's specific components were still being finalized even as Landry's Executive Order JLM 25-129 requested its inclusion. Instead, the department plans to recommend the Presidential Fitness Test as part of a separate resource guide for local school systems, which will also provide definitions, examples and implementation guidance once national criteria are set.
The original Presidential Fitness Test ran in U.S. public schools from 1956 until 2013, when the Obama administration replaced it with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program in a push to prioritize overall health over competitive athleticism, according to historical background on the program. Louisiana already has infrastructure tied to youth fitness testing: the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, established within the Louisiana Department of Health in 1980, runs an annual Elementary State Championship Fitness Meet testing students in events like the 50-yard dash, shuttle run, pull-ups and sit-and-reach, per the Louisiana Department of Health.
Who Built the New Standards
The review process, which began in 2025, drew heavy interest: more than 140 people applied to participate, and the state ultimately selected 26 educators and other stakeholders for standards-review workgroups, including 11 members on a steering committee. Participants included classroom teachers, health professionals, higher education faculty and other education stakeholders from across the state, according to CityBusiness's reporting.
The Louisiana Department of Education released draft standards for public comment in March, and respondents raised concerns about instructional time and access to adequate facilities, the department has said. Other public-comment respondents supported clearer expectations and a greater emphasis on active participation. Both the Superintendents' Advisory Council and the Physical Education Content Standards Steering Committee ultimately endorsed the revised standards.
The Public Health Backdrop
The push for more rigorous PE standards arrives against a broader statistical picture of adolescent health in Louisiana. A survey by Well Ahead LA found that 35% of Louisiana high school students are classified as either overweight or obese, according to Southeast Community Health Systems. Nationally, CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System data shows 81% of U.S. high school students do not attend physical education classes on all five days of an average school week, according to the State of Childhood Obesity project.
Louisiana's existing graduation rules, under Bulletin 741 regulations, already require public high school students to complete 1.5 units of physical education and 0.5 units of health education for both TOPS University and Jump Start Career diplomas. State regulations also let high schoolers substitute extracurricular sports, marching band, cheerleading or dance team for up to 0.5 units of that PE credit, provided the activity includes at least 100 minutes of weekly physical activity. Separately, a 2023 Louisiana law requires public schools serving kindergarten through fifth grade to provide at least 15 minutes of recess — supervised, unstructured play — each school day.
What Comes Next for Schools
The Louisiana Department of Education plans to begin preparing educators during the 2026-27 school year, ahead of the standards taking full effect in 2027-28. Professional development will include in-person training for school systems as well as training videos meant for ongoing use, the department has said.
It remains unclear exactly how individual school districts will resolve the instructional-time and facility concerns raised during public comment, or how schools will eventually integrate the Presidential Fitness Test once its official national guidelines are finalized and folded into the state's promised resource guide.
