At a meeting on May 28, the Mt. Laurel Board of Education chose not to alter the school calendar for the upcoming 2013–14 year.
The first day of class for all eight schools in the district is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 6. That day also marks the second day of one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah, commonly known as the Jewish New Year.
Much of the day is spent in synagogue to allow introspection, a time to look back at the mistakes of the past year and plan changes to make in the new year.
Normally, the process of having their child miss a day of school and receive an excused absence is not an issue, but with it being the first day of class, parents were hoping to move the first day to Monday, Sept. 9.
“My son is worried. ‘How can I miss the first day of school? I won’t know where to go off the bus, I won’t know who my teachers are.’ That’s why I am hoping that this change will be made,” Deborah Hochberg, resident and mother of two children enrolled in the district, said.
Hochberg and other residents in attendance were hopeful when neighboring Evesham Township elected to change its calendar to accommodate the holiday, but Mt. Laurel’s BOE did not see the need to make any revisions.
“In looking at past data, we have noticed a significant number of absences on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and the eve of Passover, but not on the second day of Rosh Hashanah,” Superintendent Antoinette Rath said.
Other board members expressed concern about adding another day of school on the back end of the calendar in June as it may mean a lot of students missing the last day of school if it will interfere with camps or vacations.
Also, if the school district was forced to close due to inclement weather, the school year could be extended even longer.
Hochberg was surprised with that justification.
“I’m stunned that they would be more concerned with kids missing the last day of school rather than the first. I think it is well known that nothing happens on the last day of school,” Hochberg said.
“And that students possibly missing camp is a better reason to not change the calendar does not make sense.”
Hochberg expressed in the meeting that one of the reasons her family chose to live in Mt. Laurel was due to it being a diverse and understanding township.
This decision by the board now has her questioning that.
“I’m really embarrassed by the district and by the board,” Hochberg said. “It’s embarrassing for them not to make this change.”
