In the first semester of 2023, there are nearly 30 scheduled off days for all USD 383 students to enjoy. This is undeniably healthy. However, the layout of these days does not make logistical sense, or at least not as much as it could.
The most obvious of these stipulations is the fact that the days we do have off are distributed unevenly. There are seven entire days off in December, whereas there are only two in September and April, not counting weekends. This doesn’t even consider May and August, both of which have none during the official year. It makes perfect sense that we get a week off for Spring Break and Thanksgiving, and almost two for Christmas. However, the remaining and more flexible off days, which number between two and three a month, when they could be reorganized in a way that makes more sense for student activity. For example, it makes much more sense to have a single off day the day after Halloween or Super Bowl Sunday, than it does to have a day that appears random in September or April. This is due to the fact that no third grader and no junior in high school is ever going to stay up later on April 26 than they would on Halloween night. Students need their sleep but will doubtlessly always place events such as the Super Bowl above that necessity.
Burnout is another factor to consider. Weekends are nice; however, all of the time off required for a teenager to succeed in all their classes can simply not be contained inside the two-day span of a weekend. As referenced earlier, the span of the days apart from each other is not as convenient as it might be. Between the week in October with two separate off days and the next break (Thanksgiving), there is an enormous five-week span. Other places on the calendar, especially close to the end and the beginning of the year, have 4-week spans with no breaks.
Both of these problems could be solved relatively easily: an extra day off every third week. However, these off days would not be just any random day. For example, the days after Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday and the weekend of prom would be ideal to have off, so as to maximize students’ attention span and assignment performance.
Our school district by no means is the cruelest when it comes to the off day policies. However, there is always room for improvement, and these are the best improvements that could be made at this point.
