On February 27th, Hays High School students and their families received a message regarding our weather makeup days. Because of the school we missed from Texas freezing over, students will no longer have early release days for the spring final exams from May 23rd to May 25th, the last day of school. Many have criticized this decision, and I have to agree with them. I understand that the school is legally obligated to have us in school for a certain amount of time, but why is that the way they choose to go about it?

The message claims that we will receive “continued instruction and tutoring time” until the normal release time, but in my opinion, that’s a bit of a ridiculous claim, as the days they’ve chosen are the last few days of school. We all know that there’s very little learning going on in that time frame, so I doubt students will really be getting anything out of the makeup hours. Some students, particularly seniors, are considering just leaving after their final exams are over, with no real reason to stay. I imagine those that stay won’t actually be doing much – they’ll likely just be hanging around, antsy to go home. I could be wrong – maybe the school will actually plan something to do during that extra time, but I can’t imagine what.

Sure, students are going to be mad at any “extra” time in school, but there has to be a better way of making up the time we lost, such as adjusting the school year’s calendar or sacrificing one of the monthly student holidays. This is likely a district decision, but hopefully with feedback they will change it. But for now, be prepared to stick around after final exams.