WESTBOROUGH – The calendar for the 2024-25 school year will have some additional holidays.
During the meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 31, the School Committee approved recommendations made by Superintendent Amber Bock, as well as the calendar itself.
Bock recommended that Diwali be made a full day off, along with Eid al-Fitr; Good Friday becomes a half-day, as would Lunar New Year.
The challenge, according to Bock, was in adding these religious holidays without expanding the school year. In the case of Eid al-Fitr, a festival that marks the end of Ramadan, the school year would be extended by one day every two years.
The votes for the recommendations and the calendar were both 4-1, with Jakub Moskal voting no on both.
Moskal said that although he celebrates the diversity reflected in the calendar, “The calendar is already fragmented.” He also stated that teachers are against the proposed calendar changes.
He added that parents would have to find child care for those additional days, and there would be “less wiggle room” in case of a bad winter or other emergencies.
As an alternative, Moskal proposed that WPS schedule no classes on state and federal holidays only, and have religious holidays go into Category 2 of the WPS homework and holiday policy.
Under Category 2, classes would still be held, but students and staff would be allowed to observe the holiday at home.
State and federal holidays fall under Category 1, in which schools would be closed. Under Category 3, classes would be in session, and students would need to contact their teachers about homework assignments.
The rest of the committee decided to support Bock’s recommendations.
A look at the calendar
Under the recently approved calendar, the 2024-25 school year will begin with new teacher orientation on Aug. 22 and 23.
The first day for students will be Aug. 28.
Schools will be closed on Sept. 2 for Labor Day; Oct. 3 for Rosh Hashanah; Oct. 14 for Indigenous Peoples Day; Nov. 1 for Diwali; Nov. 11 for Veterans Day; Nov. 28 and 29 for Thanksgiving; Dec. 24-Jan. 1 for winter break; Jan. 20 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Feb. 17-21 for February break; March 31 for Eid Al Fitr; April 21-25 for April break; May 26 for Memorial Day; and June 19 for Juneteenth.
Early release days will include Jan. 29 for Lunar New Year and April 18 for Good Friday.
