As spring break approaches at a turtle’s pace, students push through the final week of school before it. The final stretch before spring break seems to last forever and brings to question: why is spring break so late this year? And why can’t it be the same every year?

The seven weeks with only one day off (no, I don’t count an early release) between Presidents’ Day and spring break are the longest time with the least days off for the entire 2018-2019 school year. This third-quarter period is often extremely academically rigorous and stressful and students find themselves counting down the days. There are simply too many weeks in between winter and spring break and not enough days off! After spring break this year, only eight weeks remain in the school year.

Although typically spring breaks are connected with the date of Easter, hence the late one this year, FCPS must change this to achieve the most balanced schedule. This year, school resumes the day after Easter, so the spring break dates would be ineffective for families looking to celebrate anyways. Therefore, in order to benefit the most students and create a healthy calendar year with a more even distribution of days off and breaks, it’s in the best interest of our county to shift spring break to earlier dates every year.