Board passes specific recess guidelines
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 6, 2016 9:58 AM
The Wayne County Board of Education approved a policy Monday designed to provide opportunities for students to have more physical activity during the school day.
Policy 4112 -- Local Wellness gives schools guidelines for addressing issues such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, focusing on nutrition as well as exercise.
Physical education and recess have long been part of the educational program, but there has been ongoing discussion about how to enforce participation.
The wellness policy had languished since Aug. 3, 2015, when it was presented to the board for a first reading. The latest version now contains more specifics guidelines for elementary and middle schools.
Students in kindergarten through eighth grade "must have the opportunity to participate in physical activity as part of the system's physical education curriculum," the policy said.
The goal for elementary schools is to provide 150 minutes weekly of quality physical education, the policy says. Middle schools will be required to provide 225 minutes of Healthful Living Education, divided equally between health and physical education.
The revamped policy, crafted in compliance with the State Board of Education's Healthy Active Children Policy, goes on to say that students "should be engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity for 50 percent or more of class time."
In anticipation of its passage, the district had sent a memo to all middle and elementary school principals explaining the policy's parameters, said Tamara Ishee, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
During a recent meeting with the board's curriculum and instruction committee, she explained that schools were asked to submit their schedules demonstrating how every student in elementary and middle schools received the required 30 minutes of physical activity.
The plans were collected and given to Carol Artis, director of pre-K through fifth grades, and Dr. Cynthia Reynolds, director of grades 6-12.
"They will now spend the next couple months going out and actually monitoring spot checks, unannounced (visits) at each school to make sure that what's on that piece of paper is what's actually happening in the schools so that everyone's getting their 30 minutes," she said.
Middle schools had more of a challenge, she noted, in part because of block scheduling of academic classes.
Board member Jennifer Strickland said she had been notified by a middle school parent concerned about the way it was being done at her child's school.
"At that middle school they are doing it first thing in the morning, which is not where it's beneficial," she said. "So when the kids get off the bus, they separate them in to male and female (groups) and they make them walk for 10 or 15 minutes."
"They're meeting the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law," Ms. Ishee said.
After the policy was voted on, Mrs. Strickland expressed appreciation to Ms. Ishee and central office staff for encouraging elementary and middle schools to comply with recommendations for recess time.
"It is a very big deal to me that we as administrators and teachers out in the schools, that we follow the policies that are in place," Mrs. Strickland said, adding, "There have been a few schools, adults, that have had a little bit of pushback on it because they don't understand where it's coming from and the reason why it's important.
"When we have a nation that is fighting childhood obesity issues, and we're fighting issues where the children can't focus in class, recess, P.E. (physical education), physical activity is one of the best ways to have these children refocus."