Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years have gone into every student’s education. The people who put this much time into education vary from state legislators to the teachers students see every weekday, from 8:20 to 3:30. And, as time has gone on, the methods of education and teaching have become more and more advanced, and extending the school day is a better way of keeping track of the amount of time students are at school. The state legislators have passed the House Bill 2610. This bill states that the school year will not be kept track of in days; instead, it will be kept track of in minutes. A minimum of 75,600 minutes must be reached each school year. However, some things can get in the way of going to school that must be taken into account.

Bad weather can get in the way of going to school, and this is not necessarily a good thing because the day missed has to be made up. However, if five minutes is added to the school day, then these minutes will add up so that the day missed because of bad weather would not have to be made up. Also, because of the extended days, the school year could end a little earlier, and would end on May 28th, instead of going into June. The Round Rock ISD school district is still debating on whether or not to extend the school day because if the school day is not extending, Round Rock ISD would reach the 76,200 minute goal anyway.

However, was this bill passed for the sake of efficiency, or for the benefit of the student body? The voice of the students are important in decisions like these. Apparently, some students do not know about the bill, or that Round Rock ISD is considering adding five minutes to the start and end of the school day. 8th grader Sophia Davis said, “I mean, that’s not horrid, but I didn’t know about it. I mean, it’s five minutes, it’s not really going to affect us a whole lot, so I’m not really bothered by it.” Five minute is not a lot, but if many five minute segments are added up, it can equal a full school day.

Adding five minutes to the start and end of the school day may seem like a lot at first, but in reality, it would benefit the students more than hurt them. By being able to make up for a missed school day, it would save the hassle of having to come back to school on a day that was supposed to be a student holiday. Also, by extending the school day, the school year would be able to end earlier. Instead of going all the way into June, the school year would end near the end of May. So, by adding just five minutes to the start and end of the school day, our school year can be improved for students and teachers alike.