Wake County Public School System has recently announced that our weather make-up days will be on March 23, 24, and 25 for traditional-calendar schools. These days originally were part of our Spring Break. Before these days were taken away, our make-up days were scheduled for Good Friday, a Saturday in April, and a Saturday in May. Although some were fine with these days and were glad that all of Spring Break was in tact, many people had an issue with having to come to school on these days. Now, because of this controversy, Wake County has decided to not make us come on those school days, and have us come during our Spring Break. Personally, I would have much rather come on the original weather make-up days instead of during what was supposed to be my Spring Break.

There are a few major problems that I see with having to come to school during Spring Break. The biggest issue I have is that this is a break we have had since the beginning of the school year, and no one ever thought it would be taken away. With this in mind, many people have scheduled vacations and have made plans that are really hard to just get rid of on such short notice. In addition, when the original make-up days were announced, people realized that we will still have an entire week off of school, so they went ahead and continued to make their Spring Break plans not expecting that the days would change. Many of these plans are already paid for and set in stone, therefore a good amount of students will not be showing up those three days. With it also being the end of the quarter, it is highly likely that there will be tests scheduled for those days and it will be really stressful to have to miss important tests and make those up. It is very unlikely that families will cancel plans that they've been looking forward to just so their students can make-up a few days of school. In addition, this is a break that almost everyone has been looking forward to. School can be really stressful and require a lot of hard work and effort, so it is nice to know there is a week where you can take some time of to rest and recuperate. Having to miss three days of school in a row at this time of the year is very difficult as there will probably be a lot of information covered that would create a lot of catch-up. Instead, if we had just one make-up day at three different times of the year, it would be easier to miss one day of the week versus three consecutive days. Another major issue is that there are older students who have work commitments to fulfill. If they have to miss work for school, it will make them look bad and lose money. Many students rely on time off school to make money in order to sustain themselves. Additionally, a lot of teachers have been waiting for this break themselves too as they would like a little time off from their job. Some of the teachers actually showed up to work during those snow days to get things done, which means that they did not get to enjoy any days off and still do not get to. Those teachers who do have plans and can not cancel will have to hire a substitute, which would most likely make class pointless. Lastly, these make-up days create problems for seniors who are trying to get exemptions from their exams. A lot of them have already began working hard to be at school every day in order to be exempt from some of their exams, but those who have plans during Spring Break may not be able to show up to school. Overall, having three consecutive make-up days during Spring Break causes major issues and upsets many people.

Not too long ago, Wake County had us under the impression that our Spring Break was safe. Unfortunately, that did not happen and many of us students, teachers, and parents are very angry. I propose that Wake County gives us back those three days of our Spring Break and picks different days for us to make-up the weather cancellations. Instead of taking away from our Spring Break, I believe that we either make the days up on a Saturday or add three days to the end of the school year. By signing this petition, you are agreeing with my opinion that Spring Break should be given back by either having us go to school on a Saturday or by adding days to the end of the year. Thank you!