Wellesley School Committee makes its call on days off for religious & cultural holidays

The Wellesley School Committee, going against the Academic Calendar Task Force’s October 2024 recommendation, this week voted to adopt a rotating model as a way to include days off for religious and cultural holidays during the coming academic year. Starting in August, 2025, “Rotating Model 3” will keep Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Good Friday as no-school days every year. An additional one or two holidays—either either Diwali, Lunar New Year, and/or Eid Al-Fitr—will be added, depending on the year.

Review all models considered.

The Academic Calendar Task Force in October had recommended an option to retain Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as holidays, and add Lunar New Year and either Eid Al-Fitr or Eid Al-Adha, depending on the year. Good Friday and Diwali would be removed.

Good Friday, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur have been part of the school calendar for about 30 years, while Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, and Lunar New Year made their first appearances this year, bringing the number of religious/cultural holidays up to six for the 2024-25 school year.

The potential of seeing Good Friday taken off the school calendar stirred the town’s Christian community, particularly the St. Paul-St. John Catholic Collaborative, into advocacy for keeping the solemn holy day as a no-school day.

The School Committee’s 4-1 vote to adopt Rotating Model 3 for the 2025-2026 calendar means the following:

• Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025—Rosh Hashanah, schools closed
• Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025—Yom Kippur, schools closed
• Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025—Diwali, schools in session
• Tuesday, Feb 17, 2026—Lunar New Year, falls during February Break
• Friday, March 20, 2026—Eid al-Fitr, schools closed
• Friday, April 3, 2026—Good Friday, schools closed

The School Committee’s vote does not affect holidays such as Labor Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and other federal holidays.

During the discussion ahead of the vote, School Committee secretary Sharon Clarke said that although she wished all the holidays could be observed with a day off every year, “it has to be balanced out with operating the school system for the best academic outcomes.”

In identifying Rotating Model 3 as the one she favored, Clarke called it, “not a perfect solution, but I think it gets us close.”

School Committee member Christina Horner wanted Rotating Model 1, which called for all six holidays to rotate for a maximum of three holidays per academic year as no-school days. “My rationale is I can’t prioritize one group over another in terms of the religious celebrations.” she said, “Especially coming from the perspective of a person who is always marginalized, I can’t choose one group over another.”

In addition, several Wellesley High students gave the thumbs up to Rotating Model 3, based on their own views and those of their peers with whom they’d discussed the issue. “Adding a rotating holiday allows for more communities to celebrate who maybe have smaller demographics in town, and then in the future there’s room to readjust which static holidays we’re getting off and which will becomes a rotating” holiday, Evelyn Harrison said.

METCO Representative Joanne DaSilva Moreira supported the students’ recommendation saying, “For me, it’s very powerful when you hear the youth speaking. They’re our biggest stakeholders, they’re the ones who are going to be in school.”

In the end, the School Committee voted 4-1 to adopt a rotating calendar model that calls for three static religious/cultural holidays, and one rotating, for a maximum of four holidays.

School Committee member Craig Mack, who during discussions favored Model 4 (4 static and 1 rotating for a maximum of 4 holidays), appeared to feel good about how the vote ultimately went. “Throughout the process we developed an appreciation for the value and the intersection of culture, religion, and education of our school community, and it’s critical that we do that. That’s who we are. I think this is a way to honor and respect those in our community,” he said.

Final vote on Rotating Model 3

• Linda Chow–yes
• Nikki Offenlach–yes
• Sharon Clarke yes
• Christina Horner–no
• Craig Mack–yes

Next Steps

Early next year, the School Committee plans to finalize and publish a 10-year schedule so families and staff will know which holidays will be included in the calendar moving forward.

A thank you

In a statement, The School Committee expressed “its utmost appreciation to the Academic Calendar Task Force, which worked together over nine meetings from April to October. The ACTF reviewed data from other districts, met with faith leaders, analyzed operational considerations, conducted focus groups and a survey, developed a variety of models, made a recommendation, and provided a comprehensive report to the Committee.”

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