Members of the Farmington community are speaking out after the Board of Education voted to no longer have the day off for certain Jewish holidays, as well as continue to not observe other religious holidays.
“The first step is to listen to the community itself,” said Suraj Kurtakoti, activist for the Hindu community in Farmington.
For the roughly 1,200 people who signed a petition in support of religious diversity, they believe the Board of Education should reconsider its Nov. 14 vote determining what holidays they observe for the 2023-24 academic year.
“Right now, if our priority is on global citizenship and equity, then we need to focus on that and then work on how to address the other issues or things that would fall out,” said Eveline Shekhman, a Farmington mom who created the petition.
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In a statement, the Board of Education said the original vote was “based on its consideration of the best interests of the Farmington Public Schools community.”
The outcome of that decision “deleted” Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah as days off for next year, citing operational matters such as projected absences and issues of equity for other religions. It also did not add Diwali as a day off from school, a holiday some in the community believe should be observed.
“Religion cannot be a policy. Religion is very emotional and it has to be handled with care, thought and inclusiveness,” Shekhman said.
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Following the vote, David Waren of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford reached out to the Board, and superintendent to discuss concerns over their process and decision.
“The conversation was very respectful. Their decision wasn’t taken with malice or anti-Semitism or bigotry, and at the same time it had a very significant effect on the Jewish community,” Waren said.
Now, the Board is set to reconsider the move at Monday night’s meeting, saying they “anticipate that the vote to open schools on the Jewish holidays will be rescinded.”
For some, however, the push for the school district to observe other religious holidays, like Diwali, is ongoing.
“If you think about it, the students are going to get at the most 10 days in the decade they spend in the school system, and for us, we are hoping those 10 days over the 10-year period give us a fighting chance to preserve and have them learn and carry on as they grow older something that’s been continued for almost 5,000 years,” Kurtakoti said.
In a statement, the Board of Education said Diwali does not fall on a school day next year, so they “anticipate that any calendar requests that impact the 2024-25 calendar will be considered when developing and approving the school calendar in November and December of 2023.”
