Educators in Amarillo agree that recess is important for childhood development. What they don’t see eye to eye on is how much time should be devoted to unstructured play at school, reports Amarillo.com.That disagreement means that recess frequency and duration varies at schools across the city. Play times range from 15 minutes in Amarillo Independent School District to 30 minutes for every grade level at Highland Park Elementary School.
Texas requires elementary students to participate in vigorous activity for at least 135 minutes per week. But the law doesn’t define whether that time should consist of structured PE classes or unstructured recesses.
A new resolution from the Texas Department of State Health Services advises that recess should not replace PE. The resolution also insists that recess should not be viewed as a reward, but rather as a necessary educational component.