---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pupil rights: recess."
description: "Existing law requires the State Department of Education to encourage school districts to provide daily recess periods for elementary school pupils. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to adopt reasonable rules and regulations to authorize a teacher to restrict for disciplinary purposes the time a pupil is allowed for recess."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "SB 291"
citation: "California SB 291 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Pupil rights", "recess"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Newman"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 25
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2023-02-02"
last_action: "2023-10-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/85bb946a-7908-4147-a677-ccb5c1e95c92"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB291"
source_hash: "cac6a7554b95e767f1e8a96f8f0e883062bb9b96e5556b9cfedcb990cc38552a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 291 (20232024) — Pupil rights: recess.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to encourage school districts to provide daily recess periods for elementary school pupils. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to adopt reasonable rules and regulations to authorize a teacher to restrict for disciplinary purposes the time a pupil is allowed for recess.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/02/23 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB291&version=20230SB29199INT)
2. **05/18/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB291&version=20230SB29198AMD)
3. **08/14/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB291&version=20230SB29197AMD)
4. **10/13/23 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB291&version=20230SB29195CHP)
5. **SB291** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB291)
6. **09/15/23 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB291&version=20230SB29196ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB291 Newman Concurrence — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 291 Newman Senate Third Reading By Muratsuchi — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **5–1** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Newman — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-02** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2023-02-03** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 5.
- **2023-02-15** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-21** Set for hearing April 12.
- **2023-04-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 681.) (April 12). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-14** Set for hearing April 24.
- **2023-04-24** April 24 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.
- **2023-05-12** Set for hearing May 18.
- **2023-05-18** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 1164.) (May 18). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-18** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-22** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-31** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 1387.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-06-01** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2023-06-08** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2023-07-13** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 12). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-08-14** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-08-17** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2023-08-17** Ordered to second reading.
- **2023-08-21** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-12** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 3252.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-12** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2023-09-13** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2737.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-20** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2023-10-13** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-10-13** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 863, Statutes of 2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/85bb946a-7908-4147-a677-ccb5c1e95c92`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).