The Locust Valley Board of Education unanimously voted for the return of the elementary morning play program on Monday, Aug. 11, ignoring the recommendation of the district’s administration.
Board President George Vasiliou said the morning play program, which would allow students 20 minutes of playground time before school starts, is part of the board’s effort to increase “the amount of outdoor time our students have in the mornings.”
Current Trustee and former board President Lauren Themis said 30 minutes of recess time is “not enough” for young children.
“The reason why I brought it up to the board and to the community was to get kids outside. To get them playing more,” she said.
Superintendent Kristen Turnow said the administration does not recommend reinstating the program, as it would require more staff members in the morning, which poses logistical and financial difficulties.
Themis said elementary school students currently wait in the cafeteria for school to begin, and that time could be allocated for them to play outside instead. Vasiliou suggested that the staff members could be relocated to the playgrounds in the mornings during drop-off.
Turnow said that starting in 2008, both Bayville Elementary and Bayville Intermediate School had morning play programs that began at 8:30 a.m. Years later, the start time was moved to 8:40 a.m. to allow teachers more time to prepare for the workday.
Ann MacArthur Primary and Locust Valley Intermediate schools never had a morning play program, she said.
The program was eliminated prior to her time at the district in 2023 due to “lack of supervisory staff, monitors, and safety concerns regarding the arrival of students and school buses,” Turnow said.
Turnow said the current elementary teachers arrive at their respective campuses at 8:15 a.m. before the school day begins at 9:00 a.m. She said that faculty meetings are held between 8:15 a.m. and 8:45 a.m.
Turnow said the schools currently offer a before and after-school program called SCOPE to “accommodate working families in the district,” which runs from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
She said that due to low enrollment — comprised of 10 students in the morning and 12 in the afternoon — the program is offered only at Ann MacArthur, and that students are shuttled to and from other schools. She said the program assists students with homework while also offering enrichment activities, outdoor and indoor play, and recreational sports.
Turnow said implementing a morning play program could “jeopardize” the SCOPE program, as some students might opt out of it in favor of morning play.
“Working parents rely on this program for their families,” she said.
Turnow said that reimplementing a 30-minute morning play program before school would require a $53,657 payroll. She said that the expense was not included in the approved 2025-2026 budget, and that implementing the program would take away from faculty meeting times, and that staffing is a potential issue.
“It’s hard to staff that early in the morning, if someone calls in sick… How do we supervise to that?” she said.
She said the school district does not recommend offering a morning play program for the upcoming school year due to its relationship with SCOPE, as well as the costs associated with morning play. She said that community members are welcome to bring their children to the schools’ playgrounds before and after school, but are asked to supervise their children.
Themis said she was “a little disappointed” that the district conflated the morning play and SCOPE program, as they are “two completely different entities.” She said SCOPE is a child care provider, while that the morning play program allowed children to play outside in the mornings instead of sitting in the cafeteria.
“I’m a little confused,” she said. “I don’t really know what [the presentation] went to this extent; why it’s being compared to SCOPE; why that’s being brought into the conversation.”
Themis said students are currently supervised by paid employees in the cafeterias each morning, and that the supervision could be moved outdoors to allow for “more play time.” If the same employees are moved to a different location, she said the morning play program would not cost any additional money.
“I don’t really understand the difference between them sitting supervised or them outside supervised,” she said.
Turnow said that the building principals do not feel that the current supervision in the morning would be sufficient for children to disperse outside, and that additional staff member would need to be hired.
Trustee Nicholas DellaFera asked which buildings had concerns over staffing, and Turnow told him that all four elementary buildings shared concerns “because this is the unknown.”
“Ideally, we just shift staffing,” Vasiliou said. He said the morning play program could potentially run two or three days of the week and that the remainder of the week could be indoor supervision.
Attendees expressed their frustrations about the discussion, which they said should have a “simple” solution.
“This is the most colossal waste of time I’ve ever experienced in my life,” one community member said from the audience.
Themis asked board members if they wanted to send the morning play discussion back to the administration to come up with a feasible plan to implement, which was unanimously voted for.
