Over 70 days after election day the newly elected president gets sworn in during a huge ceremony in the nation’s capital. People of all ages from around the country come to watch and celebrate their new president. This raises the question, should there be school on Inauguration Day?

Schools around the country are split on if they should close on inauguration day. MCPS currently does not have inauguration day off, while surrounding school districts such as the District of Columbia, Fairfax and Alexandria all close.

English teacher Nicholas Hitchens said having school on inauguration day causes problems. Specifically, “commuting problems for staff and students,” Hitchens said.

An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people showed up in front of the Capitol building in 2017 to Trump’s inauguration and another 31 million watched on TV. This is around 80 million fewer viewers than the Super Bowl in 2017, which peaked at 111.3 million viewers, leaving people feeling that it may be unnecessary to have school off.

Sophomore A.J. Shumba is in favor of having school on inauguration day. “We are all students and have nothing to do with voting. Unless they lower the voting age then no we should not have the day off,” Shumba said.

Some think the opposite. Even though most students can’t vote, they can still take part in politics and support the government and their president.

Freshman Adam Hussein is in favor of no school on Inauguration Day. “We should get school off because the president is very important to me and is a symbol of America,” Hussein said.

Sophomore Andrew Reynolds is thinking more about the relaxing side of a day off. “Yes we should have school off because who wouldn’t want a day off school,” Reynolds said.

As it seems right now, MCPS will continue with their current policy requiring students and staff to go to school on Inauguration Day 2021.