Recess Still Under Discussion With Board of Education

SNOW HILL – The question of whether or not recess will become mandatory in Worcester County schools is still up in the air.

At the Board of Education’s Dec. 7 Budget Public Input Session, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jon Andes introduced a proposed revision to a policy that would require all elementary level schools, grades pre-k through fifth, to have daily recess.

However, because several members of the board were absent and others wished for more time to review the proposal, the issue was tabled until the Dec. 21 meeting.
Board President Bob Hulburd told the audience that the matter was too significant to be decided without every member’s input.

“I think we all need to be here to make the decision,” he said.

Hulburd also stressed the fact the board was not acting in confrontation with Pocomoke Middle School, whose recess policy had sparked the debate.

While Andes’ proposal would contradict the current PMS system, which does not provide daily recess, Hulburd made it clear that whatever the board decided, it in no way reflected any negativity on the school.

“Everyone here should go away knowing that Pocomoke is a great school, with great leadership,” Hulburd said.

While the draft of the proposition is a significant step forward, some people in the audience were not satisfied with the tabling of the issue for another two weeks.

Parent Todd Palmer, who originally brought the matter to the board’s attention, had hoped for more action to be taken at the meeting.
“We’re upset with the delay,” he said, referring to the group of parents he represents. “We were under the impression that we’d have an answer tonight.”

Doug Voss, another concerned parent, shared some of Palmer’s feelings.
“We’re disappointed there was no decision,” Voss said. “We’re really looking for an unambiguous statement [from the board].”

One detail that bothered Palmer was the possibility that Andes’ proposition would just be a suggested guideline, instead of county policy.

“We want a policy,” he said. “A suggested guideline can be manipulated.”

However, Voss remarked that it did seem like the proposition would be going into policy.

Palmer expressed disappointment that not all board members had been in attendance at the meeting. He did, however, clarify that he was grateful to the board for making time to listen to complaints of the public.

Palmer and several other parents plan to be in attendance at the next meeting.

by:Travis Brown

www.mdcoastdispatch.com

Parents Want To Know What Happened To Recess

NEWARK -- Parents of Pocomoke Middle School students told the school board they want recess reinstated at their children's school.

Several parents of PMS students attended Tuesday's board of education meeting to voice their concerns over the lack of recess offered to fourth- through eighth-graders at Pocomoke Middle. They called recess a "fundamental need" for the students.

"Recess is something ancient," parent Douglas Voss said. "It's timeless."

Voss said recess, which had been offered on a limited basis in recent years, was eliminated at the school this year in an effort to further increase test scores and academic performance. If it were implemented in a balanced way, he contended, a recess of just 30 minutes a day could be beneficial.

"A cognitive break in the middle of the day does improve academic performance," he told the school board.

Voss said the brain needed time to relax so that students could continue to engage cognitively during the latter half of the school day. He added that schools with recess had fewer discipline problems.

Another parent, Michael Hooks, compared the student dismissal at Pocomoke Middle in the afternoon to a scene in the movie "Grease," with kids sprinting out of the building. He said he and his wife had trouble getting their fourth-grader to do his homework after school because he was so wound up -- a problem they did not have with him last year, when he enjoyed recess at the elementary school.

"They don't have that outlet," he said.

Theophilus Moses said that with childhood obesity rates high, it was crucial that the middle schoolers get some time outside. "They are our future," he said. "We owe it to them."

Although school board members said they needed more time and information before they could make a decision on the matter, they did pass a motion to have Superintendent of Schools Jon Andes review the county's policies and procedures regarding recess and to make a recommendation on the subject to the board. They expect to address the issue by budget work session scheduled for Dec. 7.

"We're really going to take a hard look at this," board member Doug Dryden said, thanking the parents for their professional presentation. "This is the way the process is supposed to work."

PMS principal Caroline Bloxom stressed that the school worked in partnership with its parents in a statement that did not commit the school to any course of action on recess.

"We are partners with our parents," she said in a statement, "and we seek their involvement and feedback. In fact, being receptive to all opinions is crucial to school improvement."

www.worcestercountytimes.com