Ever since it has been mentioned that school hours are getting longer, students have been worrying more and more. But it isn’t what everybody thinks. 

To the relief of all, it hasn’t been approved yet that the school hours are getting longer for the Lee district, but some changes are expected to happen if it is approved.

“We’re the ones that are actually 30 minutes shorter than the rest of the large districts,” says Ryan Jackson, principal of Cape Coral High, explaining the reason why school hours are lengthening. Jackson also mentions that it is expected to start next school year, with classes that might start at the usual 7:05 in the morning and end later in the afternoon. 

The catch is that only 30 minutes will be added into the day, which is not what most expected. 30 minutes in fact doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but it has its benefits. 

“If a hurricane would hit here again, that’s less makeup days, because students will have more time in class,” says Toadvine, talking about how if those 30 minutes are added to the school day, students won’t have to worry about make-up days.

Without having to use make-up days, students would be able to have more breaks during the school year, and staff could possibly have more planning time. 

Another benefit that students would appreciate is how lunches would be getting longer too, from 25 minutes each to 30. Longer lunches are one of the major benefits because many students aren’t able to eat because lines are too long, and five minutes can make a big difference.

While these 30 minutes are beneficial, some students still think they are unnecessary and prefer school to stay the way it is. Two minutes being added to each class seems to be a long time in the opinion of these students. 

“I don’t like it,” says freshman Maria Lopez Hernandez, “some people have activities like sports after school.” Hernandez does make a valid point with activities after school, with schools ending later students who remain in school for clubs and sports will be going home late. Hernandez herself stays after school on most days, and by the time she gets home she doesn’t have enough time to do homework. 

“I don’t want school to be longer because most of the time we don’t do anything in class, and that makes me tired,’ says freshman Camila Puerto. Puerto thinks that more time isn’t needed because students barely have work to do during classes, and that there’s no point in staying longer just to sit there.

Although there are some complications with the idea of school getting longer and students being against it, there aren’t many drawbacks to 30 minutes being added into school hours, which should result in a more improved school year for students and faculty. 

As mentioned, it hasn’t been confirmed yet if Cape Coral High will get 30 additional minutes to its school hours, but expectations are up.