The school board’s newly approved 2017-2018 calendar doesn’t impress junior Mark Bonner, especially the plan to morph spring break into a long weekend.
“It’s a bunch of bologna,” he said. “Spring break is supposed to be lit. It can’t be with only four days.”
The Board of Education has approved a schedule that abides by Gov. Larry Hogan’s executive order mandating that school start after Labor Day. Along with the elimination of some staff development days, the approved schedule awards Good Friday and Easter Monday instead of the full week off for spring break.
Like Bonner, sophomore Cindy Shou dislikes the abbreviated spring break.
“I can’t go from almost nine months of school with little to no breaks to taking AP exams. How are the AP students supposed to know what they’re doing?”
Social studies teacher Laura Turner said she was surprised by the new calendar. She tried drafting one.
Turner added that she regrets losing a January staff development day, which she needed to finalize semester-long course grades.
Sophomore Arman Farazdaghi objected to the change on principle.
“To me, it’s an overstep of Hogan’s authority and it’s just a play toward tourism and getting more revenue,” Farazdaghi said. “The students’ well-being should be more important than that.”
But sophomore Josh Serene endorses the change.
“Starting before Labor Day puts a lot of family and friend activities out of whack,” he said. “Also, I’ll have more time for summer activities with friends.”
Junior Emilio Pavoni agreed.
“The summer break is much longer now. My brain is stressed out and needs that time off,” Pavoni said.
Staff writers Sam Harsel, Andrew Vuong, Brian McCullough and Maria Eberhart contributed to this story.

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