Parents Decry 'Cryptic' Letter Cutting Recess Down in Dedham

Parents turned out in force at the Dedham School Committee meeting Wednesday night to make sure the committee understood their disappointment over Dedham elementary school students losing their 15-minute morning recess.

Not only were they upset about the loss of the cognitive break, which most parents deemed necessary, they were upset that the school district did not focus on informing the parents before the school year.

Elementary schools will keep a 15-minute break for snacks at 10 a.m., but lose the following 15 minutes of recess, said Superintendent June Doe.

The district has more recess time than neighboring districts, and does not meet the state requirement of 900 hours of instruction time, Doe said.

Hard data on recess researched by district officials will be presented at the next school committee meeting on Sept. 16.

But removing recess and then waiting to present data to the community was a backward way of taking recess away, Rachel MacGregor told the board. The comments by the mother of three children in the district were met with applause from the audience.

A letter went home last week to parents notifying them of the seven-week pilot recess policy, but it was a letter parent Carol Mills called "cryptic."

"They need a break," said the mother of two Dedham students. "I doubt there is research supporting this."

Mills suggested the administration meet with other districts facing this problem and solve it more creatively.

Instead of recess suffering, Madeline Gilbert said the district should take time away from somewhere else in the day.

"They are too young not to have this break," said Gilbert, a mother of a Riverdale student.

Dennis Menz, father of one child in the school, said he didn't believe the students are getting the necessary physical movement in the morning that would aid their studies.

Actual recess time for students includes the time it takes to put on coats and lining up to go outside, plus the same process inside. That time takes away from the physical activity students actually get, said Alex Shumway.

While several more parents spoke out against removing morning recess, Ann Mercer, a parent of three, said she didn't want the argument carved as parents vs. the administration, but that together they could come up with a compromise. Mercer suggested physical activity take different forms throughout the day.