The Pasco county school board has approved extended weekends placed throughout the ’24-’25 school year to encourage students to take time to relax during these allocated breaks to combat student absences during instructional time, improve student engagement, increase instructional time, empower parents and guardians, and strengthen family bonds.
  Cassidy Haberlin (’26) states her opinion on the extended weekends.
  “[I think that] these shorter breaks for students are good, and that this plan could be held long-term for students which will combat student absences, because most stay home because students have too much work loads which leads to a lot of stress. [Overall] I think this is the only good solution to combat student absences.” Haberlin said.
  Jazzmia Planas (’24) expressed her opinion as a senior that is not getting these benefits next year.
  “I’d wish that they’d implement this plan sooner, because it would have significantly helped me and I would go to school more often, since a short handed week would have been much better, because it’s kind of hard to go to school 5 days a week.” Planas said.
  Jordyn Davis (’27) shared her viewpoint on the new implementation.
  “I feel kids would actually start coming to school more often, because the extended weekends would give them more time to spend at home to relax, since students stay home from school because they’re too stressed and have high workloads. Allowing extra time to do work and relax would make students come to school more willingly.” Davis said.
  For the most part, students have been giving positive reviews towards the implementation, which could lead to longevity of the extended weekend plan, however seniors graduating this year argue it was implemented too late. Extended wee

kends are planned for October 12-15, 2024, February 14-17, 2025, and April 18-21, 2025.