As the winter holidays approach, the hallways are always full of talk about wish lists and vacation plans, but each year there are also complaints mixed in with the excitement. To us students, it always seems as though Minnetonka has the shortest amount of time off and that every other school gets a full two weeks of break. After years of these complaints, it seemed that it was time to find out if they are justified.

While many claim that Minnetonka has the shortest winter break, when compared with other schools, this is not entirely true. Edina’s and Hopkins’s breaks do start earlier, on December 20^th, but Eden Prairie and Wayzata both begin winter vacation on the 23^rd with Minnetonka. All of these districts resume school on January 3^rd.

                If schools have free reign to determine their calendars independently of the government, how do school districts decide their days off? According to Assistant Principal Erickson, there is a calendar committee of students, parents, and administrators that gets together each February to plan for next year. Their draft of the calendar is then sent to the school board, which has final authority. The principals are always looking for students to take part in this process and anyone interested in being part of the committee can discuss the matter with them. The school board does impose some regulations on this committee, one of which being that all school weeks must be at least three days long, which explains why we never get the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off. Superintendent Dennis Peterson feels that there is an adequate amount of break time given for holidays, and that it is in the best interests of the students to get out earlier in June rather than having longer breaks.

                Many students and even their parents, however, oppose Minnetonka’s short breaks. Junior Kathleen Thompson says, “My parents are always really annoyed when they are trying to plan trips when we barely have any time off.” When asked about parents’ reactions to Minnetonka’s calendar, Assistant Principal Erickson responded that the school does its best to publish a calendar about two years in advance, so that while parents “may not like it, they know about it.”

                So, as the holidays approach this year and you hear your friends from Hopkins and Edina talking about what they will do over their two full weeks of break, remember that we aren’t the only school suffering through those three extra days. And keep in mind, at the very least, those three extra days in December mean three more days of summer.