Apparently NM Senator Joseph Cervantes (D) was never a child. He must have miraculously appeared in adult form one day and skipped a human experience known as “childhood.” You may think I have finally lost my mind, but I beg you to read SB 256 and come to a different conclusion.

Senator Cervantes sponsored SB 256, which is designed to increase school days for New Mexico’s children. He isn’t just calling for another week of school…he wants the children to go to school for 27 more days! That is 5.5 more weeks of school.

SB 256 will increase the required number of hours per school year for kindergarten through fifth grades from 990 hours per year to 1127 hours per year. (It also removes half day kindergarten)

The bill also includes a minimum requirement of 205 days of instruction per year. Let’s put that in perspective. In school year 2016-17, the Albuquerque Public School calendar included 178 days of instruction. The school year began August 11, 2016 and ends May 25, 2017. By my calculation, the extra 27 days of school would make the last day of school in early July.

Wait…that’s not all. There is more fun to be had with this kid-friendly bill. Jolly Ol’ Senator Cervantes included the following restrictions:

“ Days or hours when no instruction is given due to lunchtime, recess, weather-related school delays or cancelations, in-service training, teacher planning and preparation or other events that are not educational programs…shall not count toward the calculation of minimum instructional hours or days.”

I know that schools have built-in school days for weather related cancelations. It just seems a little overboard to include this type of harsh language in this bill.

Lastly, the bill requires that, “School breaks shall be scheduled as evenly as practicable.” Really? How does propose that the schools do that with so few “off” days?

Obviously this is a “year-round” school proposal. I cannot stand the idea of any child, especially children in kindergarten through fifth grade, being required to be in school so much. I have a child and I want her to cherish fall, winter, spring and summer breaks as much as I did.

Hopefully I am wrong and Senator Cervantes was a child at some point. Maybe he will remember that your youth is only temporary and you never get it back. Let’s not take these moments away from our children just because we want them to be “competitive.” For the sake of the inner child in all of us, please do not let SB 256 pass.