Many students count down the days until the school’s next break, whether it is for Thanksgiving, Winter, President’s week, or Spring break. As this school year has been very different and unpredictable because of COVID. Many changes have been made, including starting school in September,  and getting rid of some non-student days to make up for days lost in August. The school district has made some positive changes that will not only be better on students but also staff regarding days off.  

Originally, in the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, Poway Unified School District (PUSD) pushed back the start date for school from Aug. 19 to Sept. 2. They did this in the hopes of preparing a better plan allowing for students to return on campus. In the end, because of all the national and state health relegations, PUSD students still had to start their school year logging in to Zoom from their homes. 

With the start of school getting pushed back two weeks, PUSD administrators had to come up with a way to get the days back that were missed. The school board decided that the best way to do this was to take days from the February break. Students will still receive two days off that week; Presidents’ Day, Monday Feb. 15 and Lincoln’s birthday, Friday Feb. 19. 

Students are pretty disappointed that they will not have their annual February break. School is very stressful and having a week off helps a lot of kids destress and take time for themselves. February break is often referred to as Ski Week as many families go to the snow to ski or snowboard. 

On the other hand some students feel better off without the break as they feel it puts them behind. Many would also rather have school during the third week of February than add days to the end of the school year in June to meet the state- required 180 days of instruction. 

Having school during the usual break is better than having to add days at the end of the school year. We also have many random Mondays and Fridays off in the next two months that more than makes up for it. Having school weeks with only four days rather than five days are less stressful as less work is given. PUSD is making a thoughtful decision with getting rid of our break in order to make up for the days lost.