In A Flash

Recess could be required for K-5 students

By: - May 10, 2023 3:59 pm
Five young children swing on a swing set outdoors

Canva image

Louisiana public schools would have to schedule at least one 15-minute recess for students in kindergarten through fifth grade under a proposal that advanced Wednesday from a legislative committee.

Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Schriever, excluded charter schools from House Bill 121 because state law allows them to establish their own policy on classroom time versus recess. The key change Amedee’s proposal makes to existing law is it would allow recess not to be counted toward the minimum of 360 instructional minutes required each school day.

Opposition to the bill at Wednesday’s meeting of the House Committee on Education included the Louisiana Federation of Teachers. LFT’s Cynthia Posey was the only person to speak against Amedee’s proposal at the committee hearing.

Posey said the teacher’s union objects to the addition of yet another requirement to the school day that could lengthen the school day and place more work on teachers, school employees, administrators and students.

Amedee’s bill goes next to the full House for a floor vote.


Correction: This story was updated to indicate recess time would not count toward instructional minutes. 

 

Correction: This story was updated to reflect their were additional opponents to Amedee’s bill and to provide more context for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers’ arguments against it.

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.

Greg LaRose
Greg LaRose

Greg LaRose has covered news for more than 30 years in Louisiana. Before coming to the Louisiana Illuminator, he was the chief investigative reporter for WDSU-TV in New Orleans. He previously led the government and politics team for The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com, and was editor in chief at New Orleans CityBusiness. Greg's other career stops include Tiger Rag, South Baton Rouge Journal, the Covington News Banner, Louisiana Radio Network and multiple radio stations.

MORE FROM AUTHOR