DALLAS – Dallas ISD trustees approved 20 minutes of mandatory recess for students from kindergarten to fifth grade for the rest of the school year on Thursday evening.
Starting next year, elementary schools will be required to offer at least 30 minutes of daily recess. The policy change also forbids teachers from withholding recess as punishment for low-level infractions.
It will not mean a huge change for the majority of the district's campuses. A recent survey showed 75 percent of DISD elementary campuses already offered at least 11-to-15 minutes of outdoor activity each day prior to Thursday's vote.
Principals at each DISD campus have to decide how to implement the new requirement into the daily schedule.
