'Bring back recess' bill for Louisiana public schools gains House approval

http://www.nola.com ^ | 4/27/18 | Wilborn P. Nobles III

[BBell]

Louisiana's lawmakers Wednesday (April 25) advanced a bill that would require public schools to provide 30 minutes of recess daily to students in kindergarten through eighth grade, excluding charter schools.

The House Education Committee voted 8-5 to advance House Bill 842, sponsored by Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Houma., to the full House floor. It would still have to move through the Senate before the governor could sign it into law.

Debra Schum, Louisiana Association of Principals executive director, said the state would have to either have the Board and Elementary and Secondary Education determine that recess can be counted as instructional time, or add more time to the school day. She agreed that the latter would require more money.

Amedee said state law currently does not spell out how schools are supposed to perform at least 30 minutes of "moderate to vigorous physical activity" daily for kindergarten through eighth-grade students. She also said schools often apply that mandate toward physical education classes instead of providing recess to students.

Amedee said the "bring back recess" bill defines recess as a play environment outside of regular classroom instructional activities where students are allowed to engage in supervised, safe and active free play. She stressed it would benefit school districts statewide, adding that districts have been pressured to invest more time into test preparations to get the highest school performance scores at the expense of a student's free time.

"As the emphasis on high-stakes tests have increased, recess time has been lost or cut out completely," Amedee said.

Amedee said schools and school districts will be free to decide whether they want to use 30 minutes for one scheduled block of recess, or if students will get recess twice a day.

Schum and Amedee agreed to work together to find research and data to show BESE

[Cloverfarm]

We had three recesses as first and second-graders, then two as older kids. Sometimes our teachers would take us out on nice afternoons to play ball or red rover.

Then after school I’d go home, do chores ... climb trees, ride bikes or horses, ice skate, fish ...

I know it helped ... the ADD is strong with this one! The more time I sit at a desk the worse off I am!

[pax_et_bonum]

Praying for your daughter!

[WMarshal]

This is ridiculous. How can you profitably render a child into an economic unit of the state if you let it run around like a free-range chicken and neglect to de-beak it?

[cp124]

Recess was replaced by Ridlon.