Questions linger as bill extending recess moves to Gov. Bill Lee's desk
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Every young student's dream: more recess!
Students in Tennessee's elementary schools will soon get more recess time, as long as Gov. Bill Lee does not veto a bill on his desk.
Tennessee's current 2 hours per week of recess will soon become 40 minutes per day. That equates to about 15 more minutes outside every school day.
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For the parents who pushed for this bill, that makes all the difference.
'Article after article, scientist after scientist have said, 'you get the kid outside, they learn quicker, they learn how to socialize better, soft skills, but also they can retain information better when they get in the classroom,'' said the group Say YES to Recess.
With the bill now at the governor's desk, the question has become: how will elementary schools adjust to another state mandate?
'Eventually, there's no doubt, we're going to either have to look at extended hours in the day, and/or different structured schedules,' said JC Bowman.
Bowman is the executive director for the Professional Educators of Tennessee, an organization that represents over 8,000 teachers statewide. He said their members are in favor of more recess; it's the logistics that remain a huge question mark.
'Academically is the challenge that they're trying to meet, because that's what we're measured on,' said Bowman. 'You got different grades, you got different different planning periods, you got different things that you have to factor in (i.e. poor weather). And it's going to be a balancing act to try and fit it all in.'
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School districts are already discussing what lies ahead. Sumner County acknowledged the pending change in a board meeting this week.
Sumner County's Director of Schools, Scott Langford, said he too supports recess time, but reaffirmed the uncertainties behind this law.
'I now believe that we have more minutes of prescribed activities than we have time in a day,' Langford said during the district's board meeting on April 22. 'I'm concerned because of the pressure that is going to put on our elementary school teachers and principals. We will figure it out. What's also supposed to come about this is a sincere look at the amount of testing, the length of the testing.'
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Speaking of, it's Tennessee's rigorous state testing system that Bowman strongly feels must be altered to better implement extended recess time.
'I think we got to be smarter in our testing, we've got to be more thorough in it. For example, if they've already mastered something, let's pick up where they left off. Let's not have to go back and test a kid 42 times on the same thing,' said Bowman.
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