Some districts are increasing school year length
Are kids going to school too many days out of the year?
Every year the school year feels like it is getting longer. I especially look at year length during this semester time when we are halfway through the school year. At first I thought I was imagining it, but then I found it to be true. School districts (at least the ones in my area) are increasing the length of the school year! Of course, they have their reasons; one of them is snow days. They need to have some leeway to allow for school cancellations but still meet the state mandate of the number of days the kids are in school. However, throughout the years, snow days have decreased from about 4 per school year down to 1 or none. So why increase school length if the snow days are becoming more rare? While talking to an older person I discovered that 40 years ago, the school year began at about mid September and ended at the first of June. Now, the year starts at the first of September and goes until about June 10th. That is about 10-15 more days of school! What is going on and how can we change it? Complaints about school year length from students are always weak and aren’t really listened to. Also, parents don’t really mind if their kids are in school an extra week or two; they figure it can’t hurt. For now I guess my friends and I will just have to live with it. Comments and/or suggestions about this topic are welcome by E-Mail. Use the contact page to send mail.