During an Academic Senate meeting on Sept. 3, El Camino College counselor Anna Brochet discussed a possible calendar update for the 2025 to 2028 academic years.
At the meeting, a notion was brought forth addressing the possibility of lengthening Thanksgiving break to an entire week.
This proposed calendar would be effective during the 2025 fall semester if it were to get approved. There has been no official change to the schedule as of yet.
If this proposal were to be initiated into the academic calendar, there would be a number of drawbacks that affect both students and staff alike.
Primarily, having a longer Thanksgiving break would eliminate time from the student’s and staff’s winter break at the end of the semester.
The Union’s editorial board opposes the extension of the Thanksgiving holiday to an entire week, as it would negatively impact students and staff members, especially by shortening a winter break.
Changing these dates would seem needless and excessive. However, students are satisfied with the current duration of Thanksgiving recess.
Why alter the duration of the time off when there has been no plea or suggestion for a longer break?
Additionally, to make the Thanksgiving holiday longer would be at the expense of the duration of winter break.
As a result, four days would be compromised from the typical winter break. Students and staff would not have enough time to recover and relax from the semester before they begin the winter session.
If this new calendar proposal were to be approved, students would gain three days of break in November, but will lose four days of break during winter. Consequently, students would lose one day of time from school, even with a longer Thanksgiving recess.
According to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Data Mart, there were 7,674 students enrolled at ECC for the winter session of 2024. Out of those students, 6,211 were continuous students, meaning 81% of them have enrolled during the previous fall semester and will attend El Camino in the spring.
Enrollment in the winter session classes may decrease significantly due to the shortened break.
Students may feel as if their winter break went by too quickly and may feel unprepared to jump back into classes, considering that 81% of these students have enrolled in the fall semester.
Considering the majority of students of the winter session are consistent students, they deserve to have a standard winter break, which lasts from Dec. 14 to Jan. 6.
International students would be impacted as well.
They would not be given enough time to travel home to spend time with family and friends before they return to California to resume classes if they are registered for in-person winter courses.
Additionally, attendance rates during the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the holiday are bleak and low, even with the current break of two days off, in addition to the weekend.
Inserting a full week break would be redundant.
Students should not have to sacrifice their deserved time off during winter break and in turn, get an additional three days off – days that students miss during Thanksgiving week.
However, it is in the student body’s best interest that the Thanksgiving holiday break remain four days. Four days is enough time to enjoy the holiday, revel in Black Friday, and regroup from the autumnal celebrations before students embark on the final month of the semester.
The Union does recognize that there are students who would prefer a week reserved for Thanksgiving. That week would be widely used to travel, vacation, visit family in other areas or relax before the demanding month of December, when finals are conducted.
The four-day break has not caused students and staff much grievance, so why is there contemplation to extend the length of holiday recess?
Ultimately, maintaining the current structure of the Thanksgiving holiday can best serve the students and staff members in order to allow time to rest and relax and prepare for the upcoming semester.
