The Davenport Community School District has taken six days off this year because of some of the most dangerous wind chills in years. Due to recent life-threatening temperatures and extreme travel conditions, the district has had to shorten and cut days out of the school year for the safety of all staff and students.

“Snow days make me feel less productive because I have nothing to motivate me to do my homework or study for tests,” sophomore Molly Daily said.  “I feel like a lot of my teachers are trying to cram into the missing days, which means more work,” she said.

With every day cancelled, that is another day added to the end of the school year. Should students be celebrating a day off, or dreading less summer?

“One or two days is not a big deal, but six days, six full days to have to make up is incredibly stressful,” Principal Cory Williams said. “It’s really hard for students to stay motivated, so it’s hard for teachers to stay motivated. They’re ready for a break, and it’s hard for us to plan, so it’s very stressful.”

With snow days piling up, it can cause more stress on not only students, but staff too.

“I’m just going along with the schedule since they’ve extended the deadline of the term, and I’ve rearranged my calendar so it works out beautifully. The seniors know that they are still graduating on June 2, so they don’t have any concerns about it,” English teacher Pat Sheehey said. “We’ll make sure we get it all in.”

Mid-term conferences have been rescheduled for February 20, and the end of term 3 will be April 5 to accommodate the days off due to weather.  A certain group of people who are affected by snow days are students involved in AP classes, particularly seniors.

“Snow days don’t exactly affect my AP class because in calculus we take a lot of our tests and quizzes online. Although Mrs. Pearce is trying to get us ready for the AP test in the spring and the snow days don’t affect that date,” senior Leah Anderson said.

For most seniors in AP classes, snow days give AP students less time to study. Teachers do what they can to prepare students for the AP tests. The AP test dates will stay the same no matter what and all graduating seniors will graduate on June 2.

Not only do snow days and extreme temperatures affect how students do in school, but also how they get to school.

“If it’s too cold or there’s too much snow, I have to get a ride rather than walking, which is what I usually do,” freshman Tyson Arnold said. “I often have to make my sister get up a few hours earlier than normal so that she can take me to school,” Arnold said.

Road conditions are always in consideration, as are the well-being of students who walk to school and have to wait for busses. Whether school ends in June or mid-June, it all comes down to the safety of students and staff.

Students need to have 1080 hours in the classroom per school year, and due to this mandate and the days off this school year, the official date to the end of the school year is under negotiation. WHSToday.com will update once that date becomes official.