Update: The School Committee unanimously approved a new calendar for the 2024-2025 school year. In the final decision, the School Committee retained both Jewish holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) and added Diwali, Lunar New Year, and Eid to the academic calendar. Good Friday was designated as a half day, the Friday before Labor Day was eliminated as a holiday, and Christmas Eve was retained.
After months of discussions, the School Committee presented recommendations for the 2024-2025 Lexington Public Schools calendar and held the first public hearing on Monday.
The working group introduced two options, both of which would add three new holidays when schools would be closed — the Lunar New Year, Diwali, and Eid.
The goal is to acknowledge different communities in Lexington and offset the inequities of federal holidays, the committee said. Many students have shared the difficulty of juggling their academic responsibilities and their cultural obligations.
“Even when they chose to take the day off to be with their families, school and learning continues without them,” the presentation reads.
The main reason for abandoning the current calendar, the working group said at the March 12 meeting, is that it doesn’t represent the principles and values the group laid out. “It provides for historically privileged groups and provides only minimal visibility to large portions of our community,” the group said.
The largest group in Lexington public schools is students of Asian descent, according to state data. The student body is 45.6% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander, 36.3% White, 5.6% Hispanic/Latino, and 4.3% Black.
Last year, the Quincy School Committee rejected a proposal to make the Lunar New Year a school holiday. Quincy has the second-highest percentage of Asian students in the state after Lexington, which has the highest.
Students, from third-graders to high schoolers, advocated for the calendar at yesterday’s public hearing. Angela Tang, a junior at Lexington High School, recalled how she had to miss Lunar New Year celebrations for school in the past few years.
“I would feel like a hole in my chest and I didn’t know exactly what I was feeling.” Tang said. “Maybe jealousy, sadness or just a bit of disappointment, but I know for sure that a student shouldn’t have to choose between education or the celebration of their culture.”
Not everyone was on board with the new suggested holidays. Days off from school can be particularly challenging for some students in special education and for working families who have to find and pay for childcare.
Rachel Athens, a teacher at Jonas Clarke Middle School, said the working group needed more input from various community efforts.
“I am concerned that in an effort to be inclusive, the calendars inadvertently might favor some more wealthy and affluent families in the community and don’t really consider the impact on other groups,” Athens said. “Including but not limited to single-parent households, full-time working parent households and households in which the primary income is hourly based.”
Another version of the calendar that was proposed would close schools for a maximum of one school day per year per religious or cultural group.
According to this version, schools would close for Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday, on years when that falls on school day. If Yom Kippur is on the weekend, school would close for one day for Rosh Hashanah.
The two versions would essentially be the same for the 24-25 school year, since Yom Kippur will fall on a Saturday next year, Kathleen Lenihan of the School Committee noted.
Resident Danit Netzer voiced concerns about the changes to Jewish holidays. “While most Jewish holidays begin the evening before, those two days are actually full-day events,” she said. “We do not have time off for Hanukkah, Passover or Purim or any other jewish holidays. Those are the only two.”
The committee will hold another remote public hearing on March 20 at 8 a.m.
While I like the concept, I also recognize that there are MANY MANY religions – and more developing over time. Even if only 1 holiday per religion were celebrated there would be almost no days left for school – or are we so insular that we are unaware of this? Would it not be perhaps a better idea – particularly educationally and in support of religious freedom – that a one hour class be presented for each on or for the holiday of choice, by parties qualified to do so – to explain, explore, learn about each religion – EDUCATE people to celebrate differences – not just give them a day off not to think about or learn about them? Schools ARE for EDUCATION, are they not? And they should show respect/tolerance/and interest in the culture and cultural awareness of their students, (employees as well), yes? I think this might be a more elevating approach to inclusiveness and would benefit students more and on a much deeper more significant level. Otherwise cultural diversity and appreciation of it is no more than “a snow day”……. BTW when I went to school in Lexington, we had field trips to International Cultural Celebrations of the different food, costumes, music, art, religions…… there is so much more to a culture than religion….. Perhaps this could be considered for presentations? Enjoyable, enriching…… what HAPPENED to ENJOYING differences?