This year, February Conference was shortened from the usual 3 day break to only 2 days. The splitting of the three day break gave students a day off earlier in the year. If we didn’t have February Conference, we would have both Columbus Day and President’s Day off like the surrounding districts such as Austin ISD and Round Rock ISD do.

Keeping February Conference and shortening it to two days is a a great idea because it still gives us a break for two days and adds on another day we are off in the year so that we don’t have go that extra time without a break.

Students need their breaks. We are still young and developing human beings. If we are forced to go to school for extended periods of time with no breaks, it could lead to build-up of stress, loss of sleep and general unhappiness. Creating a two-day break as opposed to a three-day break helps by shortening the time periods between breaks.

Not going to school for three days and then having to show up for the other two can make showing up seem almost pointless or unnecessary. Some of the lowest attendance rates are on the days after February Conference. Shortening the break from three to two days can give students more incentive to show up for the last two days.

People may say that keeping the break three days long is the better route to take because it benefits the students, but it doesn’t. Whenever a student is absent, the school loses around $40 and when the student has three days off and comes back for only two, it may make it hard for them to focus or seem unimportant.

The best option the school board can take is to keep the break two days and use the third day however it can be best used.