Should school be cancelled the day after Halloween?

SALT LAKE CITY — Tens of thousands of supporters have pledged their names to call on Utah’s school districts to cancel classes the day after Halloween.

Over 12,000 supporters signed up so far to call for classes to be canceled in the Weber School District the day after Halloween. Nearly 14,000 signatures support doing the same thing in both the Jordan and Granite School Districts as well.

“Everyone is so exhausted the day after school on Halloween that most of us aren’t able to focus,” wrote supporter Katie Nelson on a post on the Granite School District petition.

We are expected to wake up at 6:30, go to 7 hours of school, finish 3 hours of homework, get good grades, participate in spots [sic], and have a social life all while getting the recommended 9 hours of sleep. This is impossible for anyone! For teens halloween is one of the best nights of the year. It allows us to freely express ourselves in costumes and have fun with our friends. We won’t be able to have fun with our friends if we go home at 8 in order to get to bed on time. For these reasons i strongly urge you to cancel school on November 1st.

The Granite School District hasn’t been swayed, though.

“[The] school calendar was adopted over a year and a half ago. It’s not gonna change in two days,” said spokesman Ben Horsley.

It appeared some of the petitions included signatures from people who don’t live in those districts. Regardless, Horsley pointed out there are other reasons to reconsider. In a tweet on behalf of the district, Horsley wrote: “The point is that state law requires that we hold school for a specific number of hours a day a year. …Sugar overload doesn’t quantify it as an emergency.”

In other words, you can take November 1 off the calendar in a future year, but you’d still have to have the same number of school hours and days.

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