The Crosby Chronicles: Halloween should be a real holiday for schools

Halloween having just occurred reminds me of something that I’ve never understood about student holidays in public schools.

When you think about, most kids don’t have a clue why they get Labor Day, Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day off of school. Yet the most important time of the year for kids, outside of Christmas, is Halloween. Why don’t schools switch one of the current holidays for November 1st?

We encourage children to go trick or treating, attend parties, etc. on Halloween night. In other words, stay out past their normal bedtime. The next day they have sugar hangovers and are sleep deprived. That would be the perfect day for them to be home and recover from one of the most exciting days of the year for them.

School districts have pupil-free days so why not purposely plan to have one of them on November 1 and give students a deserved break.

Brian Crosby is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District and the author of Smart Kids, Bad Schools and The $100,000 Teacher. He can be reached at brian-crosby.com.