Playtime might be a thing of the past for students at Syracuse elementary schools.

Recess was eliminated as part of the Syracuse City School District’s new master schedule, whose goal is to increase instructional time in order to meet state requirements, The Post-Standard reported on Sept. 8.

The students will still have a half-hour for lunch, but every other moment will be spent in the classroom. In order to meet state requirements, teachers will have to spend a certain amount of time on “core subjects” as part of the state’s new teacher accountability rules, The Post-Standard reported.

Steve Gramet, director of Pupil Services for the SCSD, said the new state academic requirements did not have room for specific recess time.

The core curriculum was set by New York state, and there is only so much time in the school day. Each elementary school is left to handle the new schedule as best it can, Gramet said.

“I do think students need recess,” he said. “But you have to do what you can with what we’re given.”

He did note, though, that students in the United States generally spend a lot less time on academics than other developed countries. In the SCSD, several schools are especially struggling academically, Gramet said.

Chief Academic Officer Laura Kelley said in the article that teachers can offer recess if they want.

When parents got a newsletter that recess would not fit into the schedule at Meachem Elementary School, parents did not sit idly by. More than 100 people attended a Parent Teacher Organization meeting at the school last month to discuss the issue, WSYR-TV reported on Sept. 11.

As a result, Melissa Evans, the principal of Meachem Elementary School, said the school was definitely keeping recess in the schedule, WSYR-TV reported.

Although New York state does not require schools to offer recess, M. Jean Finlayson-Schueler, a psychologist at Seymour Dual Language Academy, said not having recess puts children at a disadvantage. Playtime is important for children’s development of socialization and language skills.

Finlayson-Schueler said the school is still adjusting to the idea that the master schedule determines the time period for each subject.

“I imagine lots of children don’t get to play outside because they live in dangerous neighborhoods,” Finlayson-Schueler said. “It would be nice for them to have playtime in a supervised setting.”

Published on October 3, 2012 at 2:54 am

Contact Sarah: seschust@syr.edu