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Substitute teacher tells board elementary students lack recommended seated lunch time
Summary
A substitute teacher told the Laramie County School District #1 board that primary-grade students often have only 12–15 minutes of seated time to eat lunch, below CDC and American Medical Association guidance of 20 minutes.
Virginia Torres, a substitute teacher in Laramie County School District #1, told trustees on Jan. 27 that many primary-grade children do not receive the 20 minutes of seated lunchtime recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Medical Association.
Torres said her observations while supervising lunch duty and covering classes found that students who are at the end of serving lines sometimes had as little as 12 minutes of seated time before being asked to clear trays and go to recess. "There were 3 groups of primary classes. Two of the groups had 13 minutes...that reduced the amount of seated lunchtime closer to 12 minutes before they were told, dump your tray and line up for recess," she said.
She said the shortened seated time contributed to wasted food and lost opportunities for socializing; she urged trustees to consider extending seated lunch time for the youngest students.
Board members thanked Torres for her observations; the board did not take immediate action but the comment drew attention from trustees during discussion of school scheduling and operations.
