Reply to does your kid's school require them to wear jackets at recess?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This gets emailed out by our principal every year:

At [X school], we have a 50 degree policy for participating in activities outside of the school.  If it is under 50 degrees at the time of the activity, students need to have a coat/jacket/sweatshirt/hoodie AND have on pants or sweats (no shorts or skirts/dresses).  
FCPS Fact Sheet SEH-23:

HOW COLD IS TOO COLD TO ALLOW STUDENTS TO PLAY OUTDOORS?

During typical winter days, common sense requires us to look beyond a specific temperature and consider factors such as wind chill, whether the ground is frozen or the sun is shining, how well the children are prepared to play outdoors (jackets, gloves, and hats), what activity the children are participating in, and the length of time to be spent outside. Deciding when students may play outdoors remains the responsibility of the principal, based on his or her professional judgment after considering the information provided in this fact sheet. Principals should communicate with their community that it
is the intention of the school to hold recess during cold spells and that parents should have their children prepared to play outdoors (jackets, gloves, and hats).

Based on the above guideline, I worked with the region office several years back to create a policy that would be consistent and easy to follow for staff, students, and parents.  While 50 degrees may feel very different depending on the cloud cover and wind, etc., having a consistent temperature guideline was easiest for everyone's planning.  Please note, according to the chart above, students can have a 30 minute outdoor activity when the weather is BELOW zero!!  We ask our teachers to use their professional judgements when deciding on outdoor recess, PE outside, and any other outdoor activities!

Our school policy states:

When temperatures drop below 50 degrees we do not allow students who are not wearing pants/sweats and a warm jacket/hooded sweatshirt to go outside for any outdoor activity.  Students without appropriate covering will be brought to the office or library where they can read until their class returns.

Please let me know if you have any questions![/quote]

That's fine, but fully half those kids will wear the coat while transitioning outside and then dump it on the blacktop for the next 30 minutes while they play in short sleeves. 2-3 adults cannot follow 100+ kids around telling them to put coats back on.[/quote]

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