In my coworker’s email this morning, from the school principal:
Hi parents. My sources have told me that seniors are planning a ditch day tomorrow. I hope that is not the case because ditch days are considered unexcused absences and everyone who participates in a ditch day, tomorrow, or any other day, will be issued a Saturday School that must be served before graduation in June. Unexcused absences cost our district roughly $35 a day for each student who ditches. In this economy we cannot afford to lose any money. We have a senior picnic in May that is meant to give seniors a day to celebrate off school grounds. Please help me by requiring your child to attend school daily. Thanks for your support.
Why Do We Still Have Summer Vacation?
Forget the argument about a calendar built around an agrarian economy. It was urbanization that created summer as we know it—and now we can't imagine doing anything else.