Fairfield Schools Pull Plan To Pay Recess Consultants Up To $2,000 Per Visit
FAIRFIELD (CBS13) — A local school district pulled a plan to pay thousands of taxpayer dollars to so-called recess consultants to study how students should spend their time during recess.
The Travis Unified School District met on Tuesday night to consider paying the consultants up to $2,000 per visit.
Trustee John Dickerson got sticker shock when he saw the district agreeing to pay a consultant big bucks.
"It was an outrageous expense," he siad.
The total cost would be nearly $50,000. Breaking it down, the costs would be:
- $7,500 for the first school site recess training,
- $8,000 for four more school site training,
- $30,000 for 20 more visits by consultants.
- $1,200 for an extra trainer, and
- $1,200 for travel.
The president of nonprofit recess consultant Playworks said the consultations are aimed at making kids more focused in class.
"We price our services the same price that other professional development organizations charge," said Elizabeth Cushing.
Not all parents were on board.
"$50,000, you go on Amazon, you get a playground ball for $20," said Mark Ackerman. "That's 2,500 playground balls."
The district was planning to vote on the issue tonight, but decided to pull it after the backlash.