SPRINGFIELD -- It could be harder for Illinois students to avoid that dreaded dodgeball game under legislation limiting how often schools can seek a state waiver to get around the daily physical education requirement.

It's too easy for a school district to opt out without much state scrutiny and that is the wrong direction to be taking when childhood obesity and weight-related diseases are on the rise, said sponsor Sen. William Delgado, D-Chicago.

Legislation approved by lawmakers and now headed to Gov. Rod Blagojevich would limit the length of P.E. waivers to two years instead of five and would prohibit a school district from renewing a particular waiver more than two times.

"We just want to let the General Assembly review these waivers in a more timely manner, rather than letting such an extended time period go by," Delgado said.

There are 120 school districts with P.E. waivers for the current school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Joseph Vermeire, regional superintendent of education for Rock Island County, said he doesn't think waivers are overused and districts often seek them for valid reasons -- inadequate gym facilities or block class schedules that don't accommodate offering everyone a daily P.E. class.

Some districts want waivers so they can offer P.E. classes on alternating days or allow students involved in sports or marching band the option of opting out.

Dan Joyce, a school superintendent in Serena, said the changes will limit flexibility for some districts. His district needed a waiver so it could stagger P.E. classes until it was able to build a bigger gymnasium a few years ago.

But Delgado said the waiver process needs to be scaled back. Under the current five-year waivers, a student could theoretically get through high school in some districts without taking a single P.E. class, he said.

Todd Rosenthal, athletic director at Moline High School, said he's pleased to see lawmakers making physical education a priority.

"I'm totally in favor of limiting waivers. Our kids are overweight and they don't get the exercise they used to," he said.

But Sen. Gary Dahl, R-Granville, didn't support the bill, saying the problem is more complicated and it shouldn't be the schools' responsibility to make kids fit.

"We're not going to change childhood obesity by having P.E. in schools. We need to change childhood obesity by giving kids something to do at home besides sitting in front of the "boob tube" with snack food," he said.