Wake County students have a shorter-than-usual winter break this year. Here’s why.

When most Wake County students get out of school Thursday for winter break, they won’t have much time before they have to head back to class.

Students who attend schools on the traditional calendar get seven weekdays off for the holidays this year – the shortest break in recent years. The reason? The state’s calendar law, which prioritizes a longer summer break.

This year, Wake students who attend traditional-calendar schools have an early release Thursday and return Jan. 2.

Last year, traditional-calendar students had eight weekdays off, and the prior year they had off two full weeks – 10 weekdays. Next year, Wake students will have eight weekdays off.

Each year, committees that include parents and school staff create proposed calendars, and the school board has the final say. The committees must work within the state calendar law, but they try to accommodate families’ needs, such as designating Rosh Hashanah as a teacher workday this year.

The workday, which gave most Wake students a Thursday off in September, let families mark the start of the Jewish New Year.

Under state law, traditional-calendar schools must start on the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and finish on the Friday closest to June 11. They must be open for at least 185 days, or 1,025 hours of instruction. The result is a summer break that lasts about 10 weeks.

The current version of the law went into effect starting in the 2013-14 school year as a way to appease the tourism industry, which wants families to have plenty of time to take summer vacations.

Shannon Anderson, who has children at Cedar Fork Elementary in Morrisville and Martin Middle in Raleigh, worked on the 2019-20 calendar for Wake schools. Anderson said while she understood both the benefits and drawbacks of the state law, she’d like school districts to have more flexibility.

“I just wish there was one week’s leeway on either side (not both) of the school year, especially on the ‘crazy’ calendar years,” Anderson wrote in an email. “Those five weekdays could make all the difference when it comes to teacher workdays and snow days.”

Parents on Twitter had mixed reactions to the shorter break.

Wake County Commissioner Greg Ford said he polled his family.

“Sophomore at Leesville Road High School: Would like a few more days. Twin first graders at Brassfield Elementary School on Track 1 (who have 21 weekdays off, Dec. 4-Jan. 2): Having fun but excited to go back soon!” he wrote. “Parents: Agree with twins.”

“Preparing kids for the real world! I only get 3 days off,” Kevin Lewis wrote.

Anderson said developing the 2019-20 calendar was “extremely difficult.”

“Trying to balance the state rules, teacher desire, parent desire, potential weather issues, and common sense is not easy,” Anderson said.

This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Wake County students have a shorter-than-usual winter break this year. Here’s why.."