While the Culver City Unified School District is looking to the season to get students back on campus, there are other considerations on calendars and clocks.
During the February 23, 2021 CCUSD Board of Education meeting, in discussion about the 2021-2022 school calendar, the board members made a decision to change the school holiday dates. Specifically, they opted to make Friday, November 12, which is the day after the November 11 Veterans’ Day federal holiday, a designated holiday, instead of Yom Kippur as the district has honored in previous years.
The reasoning at the time was that having a four-day weekend would be less disruptive for students and teachers, rather than having the federal holiday on a Thursday, and then returning to school for one day on Friday, November 12. Public school districts are mandated to honor all federal holidays. Yom Kippur does not fall under the category of federal holidays.
Several parents spoke at the March 9 meeting, objecting to the change. With the stated focus on diversity, taking this holiday off the calendar seemed to go against the district’s articulated goals.
After self-reflection and much input from the community, the board has decided to bring this calendar item back for discussion at the next board meeting on April 13. In our continuous efforts to be a model of diversity, equity and inclusion, if the decisions we make do not align with who we are as a Board and as a District, then we must reconsider.
With so much business to attend to and so many community members participating in our bi-monthly board meetings, our bi-monthly board meetings have been running into the wee hours of the morning. As such, we voted to change the start time to earlier in the evening.
Effective April 13, 2021, closed session will start at 5 p.m. and open session at 6 p.m.
Culver Pride
Be the first to comment