There’s a big controversy between whether CSD students should be allowed to have the day off after Halloween or not. Many students are confused as to why we don’t have the day to stay home. Some teachers are also puzzled as to why we don’t have the day off either.

Other schools have different policies. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have the day off on Halloween, Davidson Day has the day off after Halloween, and Iredell-Statesville Schools along with Community School of Davidson don’t have either.

After talking to various students and teachers we’ve come to the conclusion that most of the students want the day off whereas the teachers have different opinions. 

“If you force us to come to school after being out all night, we’re going to end up learning less,” Griffin Small (‘24) said. 

“We won’t be able to focus if we’re tired,” Kamryn Brewer (‘24) said. 

We feel like we speak for most students when we say we’d rather go to school when we have the energy to learn versus when we are tired from staying up and being with our friends for most of the night.

Teachers have differing opinions.

American History teacher, Anthony Yodice, said, “It’s easy to make those days teacher work days and we all know kids are going to  be out late.” 

Like Yodice said, teachers and admin know that teens are going to be out late the night of Halloween, so why not give the day off from in-person learning?

Of course, the zero period is better than nothing. The zero period is where students are able to come in an hour later if they don’t have acceleration or study hall. 

AP Language teacher, Leslie Bragg, states, “I think zero period is a great compromise, sure, it’s a great compromise between what the admin and the students want. Giving us that extra hour of sleep is helpful, but is it enough? I understand why admin doesn’t want the day off, but I think doing an E-learning day would be the best idea. That way students have the day off and still have to do some school work. Planning a teacher work day for the day of or after Halloween would be a good idea, too.”

Both teachers both bring up good points, when kids get less sleep it’s proven that we learn less. And that’s how it is for everyone, adults included.

Not only does Halloween affect the kids but also the adults. With parents being out walking their kids late at night, getting their kids from Halloween parties, commuting to work the next day, etc. Getting their kids to school is the last thing parents would want as a priority. Parents might not want their kids running on less than four hours of sleep and driving themselves to school, causing a hazard for themselves and others on the road.

We got a sneak peek into what this means for  CSD for the 2023-2024 school year. Although for this year, we will be having school the day after Halloween, Ms. Tomalis told us that they’re pushing for the day off for the 2023-24 school year. 

“We already had the calendar planned out for this year, so we couldn’t change it but we’re definitely working on it for next year,” Amy Tomalis told us. 

What’s the harm in pushing for one free day? Augusta Fuhr (‘25) brought up a good point. 

She said,  “We have school every day whereas Halloween only happens once a year.”

Do you think it’s logical to have school off the day after Halloween? Please share your comments.