Siena Kaplan-Thompson

I’m on the school board in my town, and a parent of two kids in the public school. Most of my kids’ friends who they went to preschool with have opted to homeschool or go to an outdoor-focused charter school, partly because they’re concerned about the dwindling recess in public schools - the kids left in the public school are mostly from families who are less economically advantaged, where both parents have to work and don’t have time to homeschool or drive their kids to distant charter schools. Our public school is becoming economically segregated as a result - kids whose parents are poorer and less educated go to the public school, while kids whose families are better educated and have more resources go elsewhere. Our public school offers a great education and caring teachers, but it has to follow the laws of the state, which include that only half an hour of recess can be counted as instructional time. More than that and we’d have to extend the school day, which would be expensive, and we’re already under an enormous amount of pressure to cut costs. Parents I talk to are torn - they don’t like this increasing segregation and they don’t want to contribute to it, especially when our country/state/town is already so divided. Kids benefit from going to school with all members of their community, not just their bubble of similar-minded families. But they don’t want their kids to be in an environment that’s bad for them, where they don’t get the movement and outdoor time they believe is important for kids. The families I talk to who send their kids to our school want this too - more outdoor time for their kids, more movement and fresh air. We need this bill to pass so our local public school can offer what parents are looking for, and what’s good for all children: an education that’s developmentally appropriate for kids, that sets them up well to learn in the ways kids are built to learn - by balancing movement and focus, and through play. Please push this bill forward to allow our schools to offer what’s best for kids.