2 Hour Delays: Helpful or Frustrating?

2+Hour+Delay+Notification+for+Jan.+18th

Alice Woodman

2 Hour Delay Notification for Jan. 18th

Alice Woodman, Staff Writer

With winter weather comes snowstorms. With snowstorms come cancellations and delays for classes. At State High, there have been numerous two-hour delays this academic year, but how do the students and faculty view them? Do they cause conflicts with class schedules? Do they give students extra time that they need?

On Jan. 24, a two-hour delay announcement was made, prompting students to have a variety of responses.

“I’m very happy because I get to sleep in,” sophomore Alexa Russell said, sharing her typical reaction to a two-hour delay. Russell’s opinion is a popular one, as with many students staying up late in order to complete work, they often don’t have a lot of time to get sufficient sleep.  

Ideas of holding Google Meets to make up for lost class time have been circulating, but Russell, along with other students, oppose this idea, as they view two-hour delays as being beneficial for students.

“No, I think [two-hour delays are] really beneficial for students, especially since we get to like sleep in and it helps us like ease into our day,” Russell said.

Students aren’t the only ones who are grateful for two-hour delays—English teacher Kara Frantz shared that her response to a two-hour delay is usually a positive one.

“Complete honesty? I would say excitement,” Frantz said, sharing her reaction to a two-hour delay announcement.

While Russell and Frantz view two-hour delays as an overall positive thing, others have mixed opinions.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love to sleep and have free time, but like, two-hour delays just aren’t it for me,” sophomore Mackenzie Boyle said. “I would prefer to have the full time in class because I want to prepare for upcoming tests. Also, I just study and focus better during class.”

With time taken out of a class period, there’s concern that teachers may not be able to give out all of the information students need to succeed and prepare for upcoming material or tests. However, Frantz still believes that teachers can still give necessary instruction to help students succeed during shortened classes, at least to an extent.

“[A two-hour delay] changes the way in which we structure a block,” Frantz shared. “So, I think we can still do the best lessons that are gonna meet the needs of our students, but I think we kind of have to restructure the way in which we do it from a 90-minute block to a 60-minute block.”

Furthermore, Frantz finds two-hour delays to be helpful.

“I think in a way I would say [that two-hour delays are] helpful just because I find that my students are more engaged and I hold their attention easier for a 60-minute block than a 90-minute block, but that might be an unpopular opinion,” Frantz added.

While there are differing opinions on two-hour delays, with points of being able to sleep in to not having as much time to prepare for tests being made, the general consensus seems to be that students, including teachers, view having a 2-hour delay as being an added positive to their day.