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Parent tells school board recess was withheld; regional office orders schedule change
Summary
A Batavia parent told the school board she has spent four months seeking redress after her child’s recess was withheld; she said the Regional Office of Education found the district’s prior schedule did not meet state guidance on punitive withholding of recess and required schools to redo schedules.
Hailey Lam, a parent of two students at Louise White Elementary, asked the Batavia Board of Education for a formal response after four months of unsuccessful attempts to get school administrators to address what she described as punitive withholding of recess. “I have felt dismissed,” Lam said, asking the board to respond to an email she sent and to provide supporting documentation on whether the district will comply with state guidance on recess. Lam told the board she was told by building staff that recess runs from 8:45 to 9 a.m., before instructional time began. She said the regional office of education (ROE) confirmed two weeks earlier that the district’s schedule and approach were not compliant, and she said schools had been required to redo schedules a month into the school year after the ROE review. Lam said the change did not resolve her concerns about the district’s handling of her child’s case and that she remained “disappointed” with how administration treated the matter. The board did not take immediate action during the public-comment period. The district’s public comment script reminded attendees that the board does not generally answer questions during public comment and that operational matters are handled by staff, but Lam explicitly asked for a board-level response. The transcript contains Lam’s request and her account of the ROE’s involvement. The meeting packet included a broad consent agenda later approved by the board; no separate board motion about recess policy or the specific administrative response to Lam’s complaint was recorded in the transcript. Lam asked that the board reply to the email with supporting documentation about whether Batavia will comply with the law she cited and the ROE finding. The board’s public-facing instructions reiterated that individual board members do not manage day-to-day operations and encouraged commenters to use district staff channels for operational follow up. Lam said she had done that and sought the board’s attention after months of what she described as unaddressed concerns.
