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Dear Judy: 

 My daughter just started kindergarten in a public school with a very big school yard.  Her schedule is robust with no play and all academics, mostly spent in a very warm classroom.  At lunchtime, the kindergartners stay in the cafeteria watching the others play and then are lined up outside in the yard for the last five minutes (again watching the other kids play) until their teachers come to get them so they can begin the next three hours in the warm classroom.

I have spoken to the teachers, the parent  coordinator, and the principal about the "why" behind this physically unhealthy and "mean" policy.  No straight answers yet, I'm still hoping.

Am I allowed to get my child during the lunch hour and bring her back to school after lunch? When I was a kid this was allowed. I want my young child to have some physical activity during the school day.

 Kindergarten parent

Dear Kindergarten parent,

Lunch in or out?  There is no city regulation governing this question; it is the school principal who determines the policy at each school. However a principal can't keep individual parents from taking their child out to lunch.

For years and years many children went home for lunch, escorted by their mothers. That was in the "olden days" when women did not work and kids walked back and forth from school. Today it is rare, but not unheard of. There are logistics to work out:  You will have to sign your daughter in and out of school every lunchtime.  You and the school will have to decide where you will pick her up, what happens if you are late, who will  be responsible for her until you show up, and how will you inform the staff of exceptions. Besides adding a layer of supervision, these are understandable concerns for the safety of your daughter. You must work out suitable procedures with the principal and stick to them. <!--more-->

Maybe you would be better off putting your energies to working out how to provide exercise and  fresh air for all the kindergarten kids.  I polled a few parents and grandparents about the wisdom of  taking their children out of school for lunch, they agreed that  fresh air is essential to kids. But, mostly they were concerned that pulling a child out would single her out, keep her from socializing with classmates, and from learning how to negotiate the less than ideal cafeteria conditions that most kids face in school.

The Parents Association, the School Leadership Team, and the parent coordinator can work on this problem, particularly if you assemble a group of parents to put the issue on the agenda.   At many schools, parent volunteers supervise the recess part of lunch.

In my experience, there are several reasons schools are reluctant to take kids out: lack of supervision for a playground full of kids, and the time it takes to get children dressed for cold winter weather are two often cited concerns. As for your school administrators, they seem to make the effort to get kids dressed to stand outside for a few minutes, but when cold weather sets in the kids will probably be inside the whole time.  Parent volunteers can be particularly helpful whether they are there to help kids get dressed for wintry weather, or to help supervise games or other activities.

The Department of Education is making a big push to improve kids' diets through improving s chool food; officials need to be convinced that daily exercise and fresh air are equally important for health.  If I were a parent right now, I would lobby for that.

Judy