# Why is the last day of school a big deal for parents? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280 "2016-06-13T19:37:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/1 "2016-06-13T19:37:05Z")
I mean besides the dread of having the kids around the house all summer. I have some coworkers who are taking tomorrow off because it’s the last day of their kid’s school. Why do they need to take the day off? Won’t the kids still be in school on the last day? I don’t have kids and this wasn’t a thing that my family did when I was a kid. So I’m genuinely curious. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/2 "2016-06-13T19:49:42Z")
Back when I was in school, some places had awards ceremonies and the like. You could talk to the teachers, eat cupcakes and maybe see something the kids put together to entertain everyone with. But that was a long time ago, when finals still weren’t always a thing up until the very end. I have no idea how it is today. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/3 "2016-06-13T19:52:11Z")
Some schools are half day on their last day as well. This is particularly true in the lower grades. If you have to leave work to pick up your child, perhaps you don’t come in at all. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/4 "2016-06-13T19:57:53Z")
Moved to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![skylyn12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@skylyn12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skylyn12)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/5 "2016-06-13T20:14:10Z")
Our local elems all have half days on the last day it seems so that might be part of it. I have noticed a lot more ‘last day of school’ parent social media posts in recent years (i.e., kid holding sign saying last day of X grade). So I do think something more is happening as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/6 "2016-06-14T02:58:31Z")
My nearby elementary school had a “carnival” on the last day of class. It may have been, as my wife claims, just a way to let the kids burn off energy outside because there’s nothing to teach on the last day, but I suppose a few parents wanted to come, too. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/7 "2016-06-14T03:11:11Z")
My husband teaches 8th grade, and at his school the last day is a promotion ceremony (since the kids will be leaving that school and going to the high school in the fall) and I believe there’s some sort of reception or something after. So I could certainly see parents taking the day off to attend something like that. ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/8 "2016-06-14T03:44:02Z")
My kids last day of school ended at 11:30. So, no sense to go to work and then leave at 10:45 to pick them up. This time my husband took a PTO day, but we alternate on who takes a day off for kiddos unless one or the other has something they can’t miss at work. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/9 "2016-06-14T04:13:10Z")
Might be taking the day off because the kids are at school and it’s the last chance of the summer to do something sans kids… ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/10 "2016-06-14T04:44:44Z")
I didn’t take the day off, but I was able to leave work for a while. My son’s school had an awards ceremony on the last day. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/11 "2016-06-14T13:52:02Z")
I see a lot of people posting pictures on Facebook that are the first and last days of that grade, often wearing the same outfit. I dunno, just another thing you’re supposed to do these days, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/12 "2016-06-14T14:10:42Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Some schools are half day on their last day as well. This is particularly true in the lower grades. If you have to leave work to pick up your child, perhaps you don’t come in at all. Yip. Except I would say it was at least as true in the upper grades, due to finals week. You’re usually down to one or at most two tests on the last day, with the final in every other class having already been completed, meaning the class was over. There were far fewer students staying the whole day when I was in high school and junior high than when I was in elementary school. And, sure, a lot of them in high school could drive. But not in junior high. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/13 "2016-06-14T15:12:41Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Some schools are half day on their last day as well. This is particularly true in the lower grades. If you have to leave work to pick up your child, perhaps you don’t come in at all. The last day of school at my middle school was always _one hour_ long. I think the idea was to fulfill the state’s requirement for the minimum number of school days, but they figured nobody does any learning on the last day anyway, so why not dismiss school after one hour? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/14 "2016-06-14T16:05:08Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Some schools are half day on their last day as well. This is particularly true in the lower grades. If you have to leave work to pick up your child, perhaps you don’t come in at all. At one of the high schools in the town in which my brother lives, the last day of school is the day after the graduation exercises. So in order to encourage the graduating seniors to attend class that day, they don’t get the diplomas during the graduation exercises but instead can receive them in school the following day. The reason for this, I think, is that there is a state mandate for a certain number of instruction days, and presumably they needed that last date to meet the requirements. But who is actually going to be teaching or learning anything on that day? ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/15 "2016-06-14T18:45:44Z")
Thanks for the answers. I don’t have kids and when I was one, my parents never took off work for anything related to my school. I didn’t realize it was “a thing”! (They were in hourly wage jobs at the time so any time off work was unpaid.) ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/16 "2016-06-14T20:54:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > At one of the high schools in the town in which my brother lives, the last day of school is the day after the graduation exercises. So in order to encourage the graduating seniors to attend class that day, they don’t get the diplomas during the graduation exercises but instead can receive them in school the following day. > > The reason for this, I think, is that there is a state mandate for a certain number of instruction days, and presumably they needed that last date to meet the requirements. But who is actually going to be teaching or learning anything on that day? Additionally, in at least one state (I only know that one for sure) not only does it meet the mandate for an instructional day, but having too many students absent can impact future funding for the school in that they are penalized for having too many student absences so they want every body to be there to prevent this. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/17 "2016-06-14T22:03:43Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > Additionally, in at least one state (I only know that one for sure) not only does it meet the mandate for an instructional day, but having too many students absent can impact future funding for the school in that they are penalized for having too many student absences so they want every body to be there to prevent this. Illinois definitely cuts the money a school gets depending on student absence. My school started keeping records by the quarter-hour. But our seniors graduated a week before the end of school, and don’t take finals, either. I was told they don’t take finals because they had already mentally checked out, and they have graduation a week before to get them out of the building, because they’ve already mentally checked out. So we were willing to give up money for peace, I guess. The school I taught in had nothing going on the last couple of days. They had a pool party one day, and the last day was the awards assembly where anyone who had ever done anything got a card or a ribbon of some kind. Lots of parents were there. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/18 "2016-06-16T21:18:08Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Some schools are half day on their last day as well. This is particularly true in the lower grades. If you have to leave work to pick up your child, perhaps you don’t come in at all. Our last two days are a little more than half days for the high schoolers - finals, three per day. But I sure don’t have to be here for when the sixteen and seventeen year olds get home. Its nice to be home when your kids are younger when they get off the bus. Having to go to after school care on the last day of school is kind of a bummer. Then you start a family tradition of ice cream or something. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-last-day-of-school-a-big-deal-for-parents/757280/19 "2016-06-17T01:51:53Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Its nice to be home when your kids are younger when they get off the bus. Having to go to after school care on the last day of school is kind of a bummer. Then you start a family tradition of ice cream or something. Last year I almost had to have my kids go to afterschool care on the last day of school. You’d have thought I was dropping them off at an orphanage, the way people reacted. Luckily, they ended up going to friends’ houses. This year, I took the day off work.