Governor Larry Hogan signed a pair of executive orders demanding local school systems not to start until after Labor day and end before June 15th. Although starting at a later time seemed beneficial at first, I don’t like the concept anymore.

Since we started in September, the days we usually have off during the school year, turned into regular school days. If we’re lucky, some of those days were 2-hour early dismissals. Releasing at a earlier time isn’t enough. I still have to wake up early, get ready, and go to school.

I enjoyed having days like Professional Development off. Not only did I have time to do productive things, I also had time to relax, rejuvenate, and recuperate. Everyone needs a break sometimes. Summer vacation became longer, while Winter and Spring break became shorter. I didn’t realize, I would be spending more unwanted time in school my final year.

To make matters worse, the snows days this year were unsatisfying. I couldn’t fully enjoy them, because the thought of having to make those days up invaded my mind. If the school year had to end before June 15th, that meant non school days would be turned into school days and added in the middle of the school year, rather then at the end, possibly putting our Spring break at risk of shortening.

It’s not fair that the staff, students, and teachers in Prince George County Public schools, have to pay for what mother-earth has done. We are not in control of the weather, we can’t help what it does. Why do we have to make up the days for it? There were times when schools weren’t obligated to make up inclement weather days, but now we are.

In February 2010, a blizzard occurred that had a major widespread impact on the Northeastern part of the United States—Snowmageddon. Reaching a maximum of 38.3 inches, Gov. Martin O’Malley declared the snowstorm “a state of emergency.” Schools were forced to shut down for a long period of time, practically two whole weeks. Thankfully, we weren’t compelled to make up those days. However, a similar blizzard hit the east coast recently in late January 2016. Schools were closed for only a week. Extra schools day were added to the school year later on, causing students to get out in late June.Why were the missed days from 2010’s blizzard excused and not the ones for 2016’s? It seems like we make up more days now than we did in the past.

Although the weather hasn’t been that destructive recently, we still had snow days. The people in charge made the decision to cancel, not us. We can’t help what they decide to do, but the decision to make up inclement weather days has already been decided for us. Where’s the equality and fairness in that?

I don’t think the people in charge take our feelings and schedule into consideration when determining a solution. There are students and teachers who already made plans to travel or do other things during non school days and breaks, myself included. Now we’re forced to cancel them or make up schoolwork for our absence. It’s not fair! I don’t think we should be obligated to make up inclement weather days.