Tough education standards and even tougher financial constraints have come together in Lewiston to ring the bell on recess.

Students in grades four, five and six will lose a 15-minute recess in the morning. The time will be reallocated to classroom instruction. Students in grades one, two and three will also lose the recess, but only during the middle quarters of the school year, when the weather is at its worst. Students will still have a 25-minute recess after lunch.

The motivation for the change is easy to understand. Teachers are pushed to get students ready for federal education standards and need as much time as they can get for classroom instruction. Gus LeBlanc, the principal of Lewiston’s Montello School, says the changes, which also include rescheduling music, art and physical education classes, could add the equivalent of three weeks instruction time to the school year.

At the same time, financial pressures make it difficult to lengthen the school year or make the school day longer. City school officials estimate that it costs about $100,000 for each school day.

Unfunded federal mandates often make life difficult for local governments and politicians. Burdens are added without adequate resources for their implementation.

We can imagine a bunch of squirmy fourth-graders desperate for a break. But they don’t fidget nearly as badly as budget writers trying every possible way to stretch an already thin dollar.

It’s too bad that play in a safe, constructive school environment is being trimmed. The social lessons learned on the playground are important for a child’s development. And the release in pent-up energy makes handling a room full of young students a bit more manageable.

Lewiston kids just moved 15 minutes closer to the work-a-day world. That’s too bad. They’ll get there soon enough.


In tribute


Maine author Robert McCloskey died on Monday, and the world of children’s literature has lost a masterful member. He was 88.

Most noted for “Make Way for Ducklings,” which he wrote and illustrated, McCloskey also wrote “Blueberries for Sal,” “One Morning in Maine” and “Time of Wonder.”

McCloskey’s works harken back to a slower, simpler time. His crisp, detailed drawings and stories about family and home remain favorites to grandmas and grandpas who remember the books from their own youthful days and pass them on to the young readers they love.

The author’s characters have already been immortalized. Statues of the Mrs. Mallard and her family from “Make Way for Ducklings” traipse around Boston’s Public Garden, where the story was set.

In the computer-generated, video-game world of today’s children, McCloskey’s work shows its age. Maybe that just adds to the charm of his endearing books.


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