Iowa City schools superintendent talks lunch time with parents

Parents and students talked food with Iowa City schools Superintendent Stephen Murley for 90 minutes Monday night in the Shimek Elementary School lunchroom.

That's 75 minutes longer than the district's elementary school students get for lunch, which was the point of the meeting.

“We're expecting these children to eat in 15 minutes, which is completely unhealthy,” said Kathleen Reynolds, who has two children at Shimek Elementary in Iowa City.

Parents have increasingly been grumbling about the 15-minute lunch period. They argue that it's not enough time for kids to finish their lunch, promotes unhealthy eating habits and shorts children the social benefits of eating a more leisurely lunch with peers.

About 20 parents and five children were at Monday night's meeting. About 75 people have signed an online letter objecting to the 15-minute lunch period.

“It's very apparent that it's an issue of concern,” said Murley, the father of two elementary school children himself.

He said administrators are looking at what can be done.

Teachers and principals do not want to take away from classroom time to extend lunch, he said. But officials are studying shifting the bus schedule so secondary students are picked up before elementary school students in the afternoon to allow the elementary school day to be lengthened.

In previous years, some schools offered 20 minutes for lunch, but this year it's down to 15, including standing in line. That's on the low end of what other schools offer locally and nationally and what experts recommend.

Cedar Rapids elementary schools have varying lunch periods, but the average is 20 minutes. College Community, Clear Creek Amana and Linn-Mar range from 20 to 30 minutes.

The median lunch period in elementary schools nationally was 25 minutes in 2009, according to a survey by the School Nutrition Association.

Students should get at least 20 minutes after sitting down for lunch, according to the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, which is made up of more than 300 organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Junior and senior high students in the Iowa City school district get about 30 minutes to eat. Elementary school teachers also get 30 minutes, although they often work while eating.

Most elementary schools have recess following lunch. School officials say students are given longer to eat if there is enough lunchroom staff, but parents and students at Monday's meeting said most kids will not give up recess time to finish eating.

“You just have to wolf down your food,” Irene Samuelson, a 10-year-old at Hoover Elementary in Iowa City, told the people at Monday's meeting.

Parents said giving children enough time to eat a full meal and have a relaxing break from school work would help students in the classroom

“It's not school funding, it's not he hugest thing in the world, but it is important,” said Jim Schafer, who has two children at Coralville's Wickham Elementary.