Kemp: Local schools should decide recess, safety prevention

Tuesday

May 14, 2019 at 6:02 PMMay 15, 2019 at 8:03 AM

Gov. Brian Kemp’s veto of a state recess law last week puts Savannah-Chatham County parents in the driver’s seat on recess.

In vetoing House Bill 83, Kemp said he supported expanded recess opportunities but preferred to leave the details to local school districts. In a similar vein, Kemp also vetoed the Keeping Georgia's Schools Safe Act.

“Currently, local boards of education hold broad authority to establish recess policies for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. This local control allows school boards to set these policies based on a thorough understanding of day-to-day educational operations as well as regular interaction with administrators, educators, families and students. House Bill 83 would dramatically restrict this local control, stripping long-held authority from school boards,” Kemp said in a statement explaining why he decided to veto the recess bill.

In Savannah-Chatham County, kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers can use a child’s recess time for academic work unless the child’s parents state they don’t want the child to skip recess, according to the recess policy the Savannah-Chatham County school board approved Dec. 12 after months of debate.

30 minutes daily

The SCCPSS policy states K-5 students are to receive 30 minutes of “recess” time daily. The board purposely used the term “recess” instead of “unstructured breaktime” in the approved policy to emphasize children should receive time during the school day to run around and play, preferably outdoors, and not just sit in their classrooms and choose a book to read.

House Bill 83 would have required 30 minutes of daily activity or “unstructured time” for kindergarten through fifth-grade students but the legislation allowed for exceptions on days when students have had physical education, structured activity time, or for reasons such as inclement weather, assemblies or field trips, disasters and other emergencies or “acts of God.”

The bill encouraged, but did not require, elementary schools provide 30 minutes of unstructured break time, preferably outdoors. It required local boards of education to write policies ensuring elementary-school recess is safe, is scheduled to ensure it takes place, and would not be withheld for disciplinary or academic reasons.

Middle-school recess policy

In Savannah-Chatham County, teachers must inform parents if they withhold recess on more than an occasional basis, and parents have the right to state their child is to be provided recess according to an amendment board member Shawn Kachmar suggested that was incorporated into the approved policy.

Students in grades six through eight are “strongly encouraged” to have a regular supervised recess period at the principal’s discretion, the SCCPSS policy says.

School safety bill

Kemp also referred to his support of local decision-making in a statement about his veto of Senate Bill 15, Keeping Georgia's Schools Safe Act, which he said would have delivered an unfunded mandate to school districts for increased safety measures and increased their exposure to legal liability. The bill would have required school safety plans and safety drills, and it would have provided more authority to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to track and share information.

“Senate Bill 15 is a well-intentioned piece of legislation, but many school superintendents, non-partisan advocacy groups, and educators across Georgia have expressed concern over its provisions,” Kemp said in a statement.

Instead, Kemp favors allocating school security grants, such as the $69 million included in the state’s Amended 2019 Budget, to local public schools to decide how to spend it. “Moving forward, it is important for local leaders to first have an opportunity to utilize state grant funding before imposing additional requirements. The state will continue to invest in the safety of our children by working closely with local officials, parents, and students to ensure a safer, stronger Georgia,” Kemp said in a statement.

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