The district is aware of the petition, PISD spokesperson Lesley Range-Stanton said, but Plano ISD will be holding class on Friday.
Nearly 8,000 PISD students have signed the petition as of Oct. 31—roughly 15% of the student body population of approximately 53,000, according to the district’s website—and that number continues to rise.
“We want a happy Halloween weekend,” the petition reads. “Sleep is necessary for learning so this is why it would be beneficial to give us Friday off.”
The petition was created at Change.org, where students in districts nationwide have asked for the day off—including nearby Frisco ISD, where signatures total more than 73,000. Neighboring Lewisville and McKinney ISDs also have petition pages on the site.
“There’s nothing scary about the fact that almost 4,000 kids and teens have come to Change.org to say that they want the school day after Halloween off,” said Michael Jones, managing director of campaigns at Change.org, in a release Oct. 29. “This is a major trend, and we hope schools listen and give students a treat. We encourage students to start their own petitions to make their voices heard in their own school districts.”
The Halloween trend brought in 46% of the website’s new U.S.-based users for the second-to-last week of October, according to the Change.org release.
