LAUSD has done their good deed for the year by finally increasing their labor union’s wage by a proportional dispersion of 21%. Now it’s time to offset with a shorter winter break.

Students and parents of LAUSD are having mixed reactions to the upcoming calendar changes following the 2023-2024 school year.

LAUSD has decided to shorten winter break from three weeks to two-and-a-half weeks. By the 2024-2025 school year, LAUSD plans to shorten winter break to two weeks. By shortening winter break, LAUSD plans to establish a longer summer for an expansion of summer programs.

Regardless of this, students are still losing a week of their longest period of rest in the middle of their school year.

Daphne Marin, a freshman at North Hollywood voices her grievances on the changes to her calendar for the upcoming three years. “I’m upset about it because that’s our break between semesters. I get that three weeks is generous and all, but I think students deserve it. Each semester is stressful and that three week grace period is essential to resting up.”

In addition, Daphne Marin also comments that this change will cause an increase to more frequent burn out.

Jaquelin Martinez, a sophomore, agrees with Daphne, stating, “It’s messed up. We work hard all year. At the end we have to deal with finals. And are they cutting it to have more time for Summer programs? They’re not taking student’s mental health into consideration.

Despite these strong opinions, there are some students that are more neutral on the subject. Sid James, a sophomore, argues that a shorter break is more beneficial. “Sure, we lose a week in the middle. But we have a longer summer break in between school years. The rest period is just dispersed differently.

However, Stephanie Maniates, a 13-year-long LAUSD parent, disagrees with this, stating, “The longer the break, the less information will be retained. There was nothing wrong with the calender so why are they trying to fix it?”

This polarizing subject has divided many. Regardless, the decision has already been approved and is already in motion. In defiance of this, however, it is clear that the LAUSD Board has a vision for the future in the name of efficiency. The question is, will their plan execute properly, or will this change do more harm than good?