Bill Mandating Recess in New Jersey Reintroduced

Ah, recess. Memories of it probably bring back memories of warm days, childhood and being outdoors.

But these days, if your son or daughter even gets a recess in New Jersey, they're one of the lucky ones.

New Jersey, like many states, does not require school districts to schedule recess into the day. As a result, some school districts have shortened recess, down from 40 minutes to 30, or 30 minutes to 20. In Middletown elementary schools, it's only 15 minutes each day, which parents say is taken from time allotted for physical education. It used to be 20 minutes, but the district took away 5 minutes this past fall.

And some students in New Jersey get no recess. In one Union City elementary school, the principal, Teresita Diaz, admitted it was because the teachers needed more time in the day to prepare kids for standardized testing and the PARCC exam, she told Pix 11.

"It's important that everyone understand that these kids are getting no recess," said Pauline Hynes, a Middletown mom. "These are 5-10 year old kids that are being told they have no play time. My 7-year-old can't physically sit still by the end of the school day. He is almost involuntarily having spasms because of the need to cut loose."

In March, a group of parents in Montclair started a petition demanding the school board allocate a full 40-minutes to recess for Kindergarten through fifth grade students. So far, 389 people have signed it, and the group's goal is to reach 500.

The parents also say Montclair schools are too quick to call for an indoor recess on cold days.

"It is not reasonable to call indoor recess simply because there is light rain, snow on the ground, or that temperatures have dropped below 35 degrees," the petition reads. Instead, the petition says the school should only call for indoor recess when the temperature falls below 22 degrees.

"When my kids get indoor playtime, there can be a tendency to gravitate to screen time," said Hynes. "When they are outside, exploratory play comes more naturally, so they are able to burn off more energy. They are generally more energized when they have outdoor play versus only indoor."

Bill mandating recess reintroduced

State Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) introduced a bill that would have required all public schools in New Jersey to provide at least 20 minutes of recess time daily to students in grades K-5.

But in January, Gov. Chris Christie squashed the bill, calling it, in his characteristically blunt fashion, "stupid."

“I think their teachers should be able to decide and their administrators should be able to decide whether or not they have recess on any particular day,” Christie said at the time. “With all the other problems we have to deal with, my Legislature is worried about recess for kids from kindergarten to fifth grade. You know, part of my job as governor is to veto the stupid bills. That was a stupid bill, and I vetoed it.”

Those who agreed with Christie, such as Larry Hughes, the interim superintendent of the Montvale school district, said it was not necessary for Trenton to legislate recess.

“It’s a shame that we have to legislate recess now. We are over-legislating everything in our schools,” said Hughes told NorthJersey.com.

Turner reintroduced the bill, with no changes made, this spring, her chief of staff Meredith Rivera told Patch on Friday. It is now pending the Senate Education Committee, which next meets May 2.

Of course, said Rivera, Christie could always veto the bill again.

New Jersey is not rare for not mandating recess. Only nine other states in the U.S. have laws requiring recess in elementary schools. They are California, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Virginia, Hawaii and Wisconsin.

How much recess time does your son or daughter get?

Wayne: 30 minutes

Collingswood: 30 minutes

Ridgefield: Recess is part of students' 40-minute lunch break

Red Bank: 30 minutes

Holmdel: 25 minutes

Montclair: 23 minutes

Toms River: 20 minutes

Wall: 20 minutes

Englewood Cliffs: 20 minutes

Middletown: 15 minutes, which parents say is taken from Physical Education time.

Manalapan-Englishtown: 15 minutes

Union City: Recess given to K-2nd graders, and fifth graders only. Third and fourth graders do not have recess.

Stock image/morguefile