Elmhurst District 205 parents hot about outdoor snack time in cold weather

ELMHURST – As Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 students return to school this week in a hybrid of in-person and remote learning, many elementary school parents are concerned about snack breaks being held outside in the cold.

On Monday, the first day back, a photo was posted to Facebook on the “Reopen 205″ page of seven Emerson Elementary School kindergarteners sitting on blankets on the sidewalk eating snacks. The photo drew many comments criticizing the district for having children sit outside eating snacks in the cold.

The photo has since been taken down, but parents remain upset that students were outside for 30 minutes when temperatures on Monday were around 25 degrees and felt like 15 when factoring in the wind chill – and with the potential of continued cold temperatures in the weeks ahead.

“I do think the kids need to have a snack break, but the district needs to come up with a better plan,” said Mia Allen, the mom of three students in the district. “Sending little first graders outside for 30 minutes in those kinds of temperatures, it seems a little insane. It’s really hard to eat a snack with gloves and mittens on.”

District spokesperson Bev Redmond said that in preparation for the return to hybrid, principals communicated to parents ahead of time that there would be no lunch service given the five-hour day and guidance from state and local health officials and experts about eating indoors. However, snacks are allowed when students are on break time outdoors. Redmond said students will go outdoors for a snack if the “feels like” the temperature is 10 degrees or higher. Redmond said that all District 205 elementary schools use the Illinois State Board of Education’s ChildCare Weather Watch to guide decisions on outdoor activities.

“Snack time is a portion of the break. Students are free to sit or stand,” Redmond said. “Breaks also are to incorporate movement in order to give students a change of pace from the classroom. Students have always and still go outside during the winter months.”

District 205 earlier this week told NBC Chicago that students would go outdoors for “snack/recess” if the temperature felt like 10 degrees or higher.

However, some parents contend that the district is not being truthful in characterizing the outside time as, in part, “recess.”

“The district spinned it that snack time is part of recess; they’re not having recess, either. That’s not true,” said Allen, who added that many parents are saying that they were not informed of the 10-degree marker for going outside. “The district has said that kids are not allowed to run around. This is a snack time. That is what it’s called in the email. They don’t call it lunch. We know that lunch is off the table.”

Liz Thompson, the mother of five district students, three of them at Emerson, and a pediatrician, said that for most children, it’s a huge stretch not to be able to eat for five hours – so a snack time is essential. With children growing at a rapid pace, she said they need to be able to eat 4 to 5 times a day and cited studies that show that hunger and insufficient nutrition correlates with an inability to focus and lower grades.

But Thompson contends that short snack breaks can be done inside. At this time, while community spread of coronavirus transmission is considered “substantial,” masks are required at all times while inside district schools, which is why snack breaks are being held outside.

“I think the issue here is that this fidelity to masking is being misinterpreted,” Thompson said. “Short, staggered snack breaks inside where kids have masks off and are at their desk for 10-15 minutes has been shown to not be a risk [to coronavirus transmission]. This is how the Catholic and private schools are staying open. This is how many schools around the country are doing and managing. I think there is a much more reasonable way to do this and keep kids safe.”

Thompson found the picture of kids sitting outside on the sidewalk eating a snack in the cold, not being able to walk around, “upsetting.”

“I think for me what I didn’t picture was kids having to sit still on the sidewalk, not being able to walk around,” Thompson said. “Temperatures in the 20s or colder, their little fingers can’t even open snacks because they get so cold.”

Allen likewise would like to see the district be more flexible on its snack policy. She said she’ll definitely be bundling up her son as much as possible, but if the district keeps this policy of snack breaks in cold weather she might choose to keep him home those days for remote learning.

“I think kids need a snack in order to concentrate and be able to learn in school, but I really think that the district has to come up with a better way,” Allen said. “Whether that’s spacing kids apart in hallways, in a gymnasium, in the library, in a lunch room, the private schools around us have plexi-glass around their desks. The district needs to come up with a better plan.”