Parent tells board elementary lunch periods fall short of 20-minute seated guideline; requests schedule change

At the Sept. 5 meeting a parent raised concerns that elementary students across Mount Lebanon are not consistently receiving 20 minutes of seated lunchtime as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Amy Grela, who identified herself as a parent, said the problem became especially evident after a schedule change at Howe Elementary on Aug. 25 that shortened lunch periods to 20 minutes for students because of cafeteria overcrowding. Grela said enrollment at the elementary schools has grown from about 370 students in 2014 to about 392 today at Howe (figures she provided), and that the district confines lunches to a single one-hour cafeteria window, which limits scheduling flexibility.

Grela cited the district’s school wellness policy (identified in her remarks as policy JLJ) and said that policy requires providing adequate time to eat — specifically a 20-minute sit-down period. She also cited CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics guidance that schools should provide at least 20 minutes of seated time, not a 20-minute period that includes walking, lining up and seating. In her remarks she said only two of the district’s seven elementary schools currently offer more than 20 minutes and urged the board and administration to revise schedules so all elementary students receive the recommended seat time.

The board acknowledged the comment and said questions requiring follow-up would be referred to the administration for later response. No immediate action or scheduling change was announced at the meeting.