by Sofia Khan, staff reporter
Waking up the day after Hurricane Sandy, students’ phones were blowing up with the message, “No school!” After Hurricane Sandy, school was cancelled for an entire week for safety precautions, and students were kept at home.
With major damage to the city’s infrastructure and public transportation down, it was impossible for students to travel from home to school safely. Because of the lost days during the storm, students will have two vacation days during mid-winter recess in February, rather than the full week.
“It’s mandated by the city to have 180 days of school a year,” high school assistant principal Mr. Jurman said. “The Department of Education has to take it away from February break because it’s the only way to make school days up [since] those days off aren’t during a holiday.”
Opinions about making up these school days differ. Some people are displeased with having to make up school days during their break.
“I don’t think it’s fair that we’re getting time taken off from our break because the storm wasn’t our fault,” sophomore Raj Vidya said.
“I feel upset because there isn’t as much free time as we normally get,” freshman Sabrina Kanavatas said.
Despite the inconvenience of having to make up the time, some staff and students recognize the need for increased school days.
“It’s unfortunate but for chemistry classes, the time will be greatly appreciated because we have so much material to cover,” chemistry teacher Dr. Baribault said.
“I’m okay with it because if you think about it, February break is a week long, and we got off a week because of Hurricane Sandy,” junior Mariana Krslovic said. “We’re only losing three days off of our break.”