It was brought to my attention by my fifth- grader at Riverdale Elementary that he no longer has snack time at school. When I asked him why, he didn’t know.

I was talking to another parent and was informed that the School Board determined that the 15 minutes that the children were allowed to take a break and have a snack would be better utilized with instruction.

The fifth grade does not have lunch until 12:45 p.m. Most children are getting on the buses between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. This is over five hours that these children are going between meals.

As an adult, I usually have a break around 10 a.m. for a snack or just a mental break.

Most likely, these children are sitting there during this extra 15 minutes of instruction with growling stomachs. How well are they concentrating when they are hungry? I wonder if the school board members who decided this was a good idea take a snack break in the morning — or even a smoke break.

If the children aren’t being allowed to take a break during the day, then I would hope the school board would follow suit and sit at their desks all day without any hopes of a break.

I don’t see where this 15 minutes of no instruction is going to affect the SOL’s, which seems to be the biggest concern of the board.

The children’s well-being needs to be a concern. I believe that this decision was not well thought out and needs to be reconsidered.

Shannon Justus

Franklin