School Committee members met publicly for the first time since Superintendent Dr. John Buckey’s resignation for a Policy Subcommittee meeting to discuss the district’s recess and athletic policies Friday.
More than 50 people attended the meeting, which was led by Committee member Jenn Schaeffner. The district’s new acting superintendent, Michelle Cresta, also spoke frequently throughout the meeting.
Public comment was the first item on the agenda, with Marblehead mothers Karla Strobel and Naomi Caselli both arguing that additional recess time could benefit students.
“I am an advocate for two recesses in the school,” Strobel said. “I implore this committee to consider reinstating two recesses (from kindergarten to third grade)… I can only underscore our own local teachers and top educators from across the country that discuss and advocate that recess helps people better focus, have better test scores, and just in general helps social and emotional development.”
Schaeffner assured the parents that a conversation on recess policies was coming later in the meeting, but first the subcommittee discussed certification of all athletic coaches by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
“We have made a movement to start requiring all our coaches to become MIAA-certified,” Cresta said. “That is going to begin this fall season.”
Cresta went on to say that the directive was just reached a day earlier, so it is still not part of the official policy. According to Schaeffner, only 6 out of 28 Marblehead coaches are currently MIAA-certified.
The next item discussed was an updated wellness policy. Schaeffner recommended approving it immediately, as it needs to be implemented by the start of the school year. However, a vote was not taken because the policy needs to be approved by the entire School Committee. Cresta assured that it will be on the agenda for the next School Committee meeting.
The two significant facets of the wellness policy are recess and nutrition.
Subcommittee members brought up examples of other school systems that have more time devoted to recess.
“One example is Norwood,” Schaeffner said. “The recommendation is 60 minutes a day of physical activity or 300 minutes a week… Wellesley schools do not give any specific time for recess, but they say schools will endeavor to schedule recess prior to lunch, because research indicates that physical activity prior to lunch can increase nutrient intake.”
Schaeffner also mentioned Lexington Public Schools, saying that the district’s schools have two recesses each day and do not take it away for disciplinary reasons.
“I think it’s worth relooking at this in terms of having a second recess in our elementary school,” Schaeffner said. “I strongly consider that we amend this policy to consider some amendment to the recess.”
Committee member Allison Taylor agreed with the idea of additional recess time, even suggesting that it be extended through the sixth grade, as opposed to just the third grade.
However, Cresta made sure to note that any drastic changes to recess will take time.
“I would hesitate to move anything ahead really quickly,” Cresta said. “We are welcoming teachers back in just two and a half weeks from now, so really we are at the very last minute of our summer planning basically… I want everyone to be aware that we can visit this issue, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”