As the end of year swifty approaches, students are wishing for it to come faster. However, the Fort Thomas district has an extra seven more days compared to the others in Northern Kentucky. Students have expressed their disagreements with this decision all year, but now that snow days are in question, it’s an even bigger topic.
Many students and teachers remain in the dark as to why we have these extra days. When leaving these students unaware of why, it leaves them upset. The reasoning behind the seven extra days ended up being much more simpler than everyone thought.
“It used to be that there were 175 required student days, and we always had 177. A few years ago they changed it to a requirement of 170 days with a certain number of hours. I guess that the best way to move forward is to maximize the opportunities our students have to be in class and to interact with teachers and to really engage in great learning experiences,” Fort Thomas superintendent, Brian Robinson, said.
This year, Kentucky gained a large amount of snow which resulted in two snow days for Highlands. These seven days could be used as built in makeup days, however, this is not always the case.
“The only time we talk about extra days of school is when we have, and the rare times we have snow days. The question is make it up or don’t make it up and we are very much of the belief that you should make up the days that you miss because there are opportunities for learning and you should value the day,” Robinson said.
Despite the good reasoning behind all the additional days, students are still left upset. Having to continue to wake up early, stress about grades, and even graduation being pushed back a few more days makes school unbearable.
“I mean I guess if it’s necessary, then there’s not a lot to do about them, but I just feel like, I mean personally, I feel like it’s a lot necessary for students to show up just because I feel like for myself, it kind of impacts graduation and just an extension of summer,” Hayden Reed (12) said.
Not only does it affect seniors who are waiting on their diplomas, but every grade is affected by these additional days.
“I think it’s kind of annoying, especially because I’ve heard about it the last seven days or like the last a little bit of school was kind of pointless after you finish your finals,” Ethan Lang (9) said.
Even though these days leave students upset, it can be a large benefit to them. It builds teacher and student relationships and gives students some extra time to squeeze in assignments and bump up grades.
“School is important and there’s a large investment in education in our district and we’re working towards making sure that it is not a prison sentence. It’s an opportunity. We shouldn’t be counting off the days,” Robinson said.
