Week to Slack or Come Back

By Northwest Press Editorial Staff, Reporter        Published: November 12, 2019

The School Board of Trustees has already approved the new changes to the 2020-21 CCSD School Calendar, which affect students, families, and teachers. 

According to the new CCSD School Calendar for 2020-21, there is no longer a full week off for Thanksgiving, students are only given Wednesday through Friday off. The Thanksgiving holiday is meant for families to relax, go on vacation, and spend quality time with relatives. With less time there are fewer opportunities, causing families to alter their plans.

Many students and their families have already paid fees for their trips as early as now for that week of Thanksgiving because it gets so hectic. According to a statistic by the Travel and Leisure website: “Nearly 47 million travelers are traveling for Turkey Day.” With changes to the calendar, they have to cancel their plans, but in some instances, they might not be able to cancel or refund their trip leading to complications in classrooms.

Teachers will be affected by the changes, because they too will have to alter their plans to stay and teach, if they cannot find a substitute. But classrooms will mostly be empty, since some students will be missing those days of school if they cannot alter their vacation plans. According to an anonymous teacher at NWCTA: “Students will be missing classwork, causing them to fall behind, and leads us teachers to spend more time and work that we don’t want to in the classrooms reteaching the lesson plans so that students can catch up.”

These changes to the CCSD school calendar for 2020-21 impose negative effects. In the future, the school board of trustees should check with students, families, and teachers first, and get their approval before making any changes, so that we are properly informed.