COLUMBIA, S.C. — Many South Carolina teachers may soon be guaranteed break time each day, thanks to legislation that has passed the House and Senate unanimously.
The bill comes as many South Carolina teachers are facing busy days and burn out. “There are teachers that literally cannot take bathroom breaks,” Senator Stephen Goldfinch told News19.
When teachers are responsible for children the entire school day, they have no time for themselves. That’s why Goldfinch proposed a bill that guarantees elementary and special education teachers a 30-minute break without student supervision each day.
“They need a bathroom break," said Goldfinch. "They want to be able to eat lunch without being harassed by the kids. I know teachers love their kids but even parents need a break at some point in time, and when you’re with kids 12 hours a day, it’s time for a break.”
He added that South Carolina has an issue retaining teachers due to their working conditions. “We have to figure out ways to retain our teachers and keep them happy and this is just one of those ways,” Goldfinch said.
Amid staffing shortages, Goldfinch said districts will need to get creative to implement the breaks: “I do think they’re going to need some rotation of aides, I think they’re going to have to figure it out, though.”
The bill has passed the House and Senate and will soon go to the Governor to be enacted into law.
Kershaw County Schools Superintendent, Dr. Shane Robbins, told News19 his district already had this break policy pre-COVID-19. Before they did away with it due to social distancing, teachers were given a free lunch period.
Robbins explained, “typically the teacher would take their students down to the cafeteria during their assigned time and they would hand them off to the cafeteria supervisor and an administrator, then they can go back to the classroom, [or] the teacher’s lounge.”
He said that one creative solution for staffing was hiring district bus drivers as cafeteria supervisors. “This is another opportunity to allow and encourage volunteers back into our buildings as well,” said Robbins.
Robbins said he hopes to re-implement the break time for elementary school teachers before the end of the year. Once the bill becomes law, school districts will have three months to adopt the new policy.