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Should lunch be mandatory in Washington schools?

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When you were in school, how much time did you actually spend eating lunch? From grade school all the way through high school I remember us having 1/2-hour lunch. (That was in the Highline School District.) Keep in mind I don’t remember ever actually taking 1/2 hour to eat my lunch. I was a human vacuum cleaner. 

Two women serving kids food in a school cafeteria,

monkeybusinessimages

But that half hour gave me time to eat my lunch, hang out with some friends, maybe hit the playground when I was in grade school and then it was back to class.  

I had no idea that some school districts in Washington state did not allocate a full 30 minutes for lunch. There are two school districts in Washington state that only allow 15 minutes for lunch and that does not include standing in line waiting for a hot lunch to be served and then getting back to find a place to sit and eat and then clean up. 

Keep in mind, even Washington State is not asking for 30 minutes. They’ve decided that 20 minutes will work. 

According to king5.com,
‘Washington’s state superintendent is considering a rule change that, for the first time, would set a minimum for school lunch periods in the state’s nearly 300 school districts. “Many Washington schools are falling short of the recommended best practice of providing students with 20 minutes of seated lunchtime,” said the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).‘ 

Schools Across The U.S. Close To Help Stop Spread Of Coronavirus

Getty Images

The word is that there’s going to be some pushback from school districts about scheduling 20 minutes for a student to actually sit down and eat. I find this difficult to understand, but then hey, what do I know, I was just a student, I wasn’t an administrator. If it was up to me, I’d give them their 20 minutes to sit and eat lunch and keep them for 20 more minutes at school. (That’ll be popular.) 

Congress Allows Pizza To Be Considered Vegetable In School Lunches

Getty Images

Take some of the stress out of a student’s day, give them time to sit down and eat lunch. 

Washington to consider minimum lunch time for school kids | king5.com
School lunch time crunch for Washington students | king5.com
PA_Elementary_School_Lunch_Scheduling_ar1024471.pdf

Top 10 School Lunches We Ate As Kids Ranked Best to Worst

Here’s a list of 10 of the best and worst school lunches from elementary to high school.

Gallery Credit: Gazelle

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Gallery Credit: Gallery Credit: Tommy O/Townsquare Media

 



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