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Teachers and families urge Beloit board to keep ‘lunch in the classroom’ at several elementary schools
Summary
Teachers, staff and parents urged the board to keep classroom‑based lunches at multiple elementary schools, citing calmer routines, better nutrition and less behavior disruption than moving lunches into gyms.
Teachers and staff from multiple elementary schools, along with parents and community members, addressed the board during public comment to urge the district to retain classroom‑based lunches at their schools and to reconsider plans to move lunches into school gymnasiums.
What speakers said: Mary Ellen Fuentes, biliteracy coach at Todd Elementary, described Todd’s 2016 pilot of lunch in the classroom based on site visits to Madison schools and said the practice produced immediate benefits: students ate more, had fewer behavioral incidents and staff could hold calmer, more meaningful conversations. She described classroom lunches as more inclusive and protective of instructional time.
Todd teachers also submitted a signed letter and Melissa Verbeck, a first‑grade teacher at Todd, told the board that moving lunches to the gym would halve PE practice space, reduce safety and limit the use of music and movement. Verbeck said 10 lunch tables delivered this summer (each seats 12) could not safely seat the roughly 140 students scheduled to eat at the same time in one half of the gym.
Staff and teachers from other elementaries (Hackett, Merrill, Robinson) sent letters describing similar concerns: the gym is a critical instructional space for PE, classroom lunches foster responsive‑classroom practices and family‑like settings that reduce referrals, support social‑emotional learning, provide calmer environments and share cleanup responsibilities with students. Hackett staff asked for collaborative decision‑making with building staff and families.
Why this matters: District scheduling and space decisions affect instructional quality (PE and class time), student behavior and staff workload. Several staff letters noted previous reductions in office referrals and improved routines after classroom lunch implementation.
District position: District administrators indicated the decision to change lunch locations was tied to staffing, facility and schedule constraints; they also acknowledged principals provided input on which clubs and activities would continue under staffing adjustments.
Ending: Staff and committee discussions on scheduling and space will continue; board members and administrators heard requests to consider building‑level input before finalizing lunch‑location policies for the coming school year.
