25 signatures reached
To: LAUSD Board of Education
Protect Play in LAUSD Elementary Schools
Dear LAUSD Board Members and District Leadership,
We are writing as caregivers, educators, and community members to ask LAUSD to take the next step in supporting students by expanding and protecting meaningful opportunities for play during the school day.
We recognize and appreciate recent progress, including the implementation of SB 291, which guarantees 30 minutes of daily recess, and efforts to limit student device use during the school day. We also value LAUSD’s Joy and Wellness initiative, which reflects a commitment to supporting the whole child.
These efforts point in the right direction. Now, the structure of the school day must reflect those priorities in practice.
We are asking LAUSD to:
- Expand daily opportunities for unstructured play beyond the 30-minute minimum required under SB 291
- Ensure students receive real, usable play time by minimizing time lost to transitions, lining up, and interruptions
- Integrate movement and play throughout the school day, not confined to a single block
- Align school day structures with device policies by providing meaningful alternatives to screen time through movement, play, and peer interaction
- Recognize play as a critical support for student mental health, helping students regulate, connect, and reset
- Address equity gaps by ensuring all students have access to safe, consistent opportunities for play, especially those without access to parks or open space outside of school
Students today are navigating rising mental health challenges, increased screen exposure, and, for many, limited access to safe outdoor spaces outside of school. At the same time, schools are working to improve engagement and address chronic absenteeism.
These priorities are deeply connected.
Expanding and protecting play time is a concrete way to bring LAUSD’s Joy and Wellness initiative to life during the school day.
Play is not separate from these goals; it is part of the solution.
It supports attention, engagement, emotional regulation, belonging, and peer connection. It helps create the conditions that make learning possible.
We are not asking for less learning time. We are asking for a school day that better reflects how students learn best within existing instructional requirements.
Policy is moving in the right direction—now the school day needs to catch up.
We urge LAUSD to build on its current policies and create a more balanced, developmentally aligned school day for all students.
We are asking for a return to the 15-30-15 play schedule that many of us enjoyed in public schools as children. Let's return to play in childhood and in schools, because play is learning!
We are asking for a return to the 15-30-15 play schedule that many of us enjoyed in public schools as children. Let's return to play in childhood and in schools, because play is learning!
Why is this important?
Kids are spending most of their day sitting and moving from one structured activity to the next, with very little time to just be kids. In many classrooms, that means over 300 minutes of instruction and only 30 minutes of recess, and even that often gets shortened in practice.
Recent LAUSD surveys and data also show more students struggling with anxiety, stress, and disengagement from school. Schools are trying to respond by limiting device use and focusing on student wellness, but the structure of the day hasn’t really caught up yet to what health workers already know - movement and play are essential for development and health!
Play is one of the simplest, most effective ways for kids to reset, connect with each other, and come back ready to learn. It’s not extra—it’s part of how kids actually function throughout the day.
And for a lot of students in LAUSD, especially those without access to safe parks or outdoor space, school might be the only place where that kind of play can happen consistently.
This isn’t about taking time away from learning. It’s about making the school day work better for kids so they can actually focus, engage, and enjoy being there.
If we care about student mental health, attendance, and learning, this is something worth paying attention to and speaking up about.