Glen Rock residents urge board to use unused snow day for Passover; trustees defend calendar choice

At a Glen Rock Public School District board meeting, several residents urged trustees to use an unused emergency-closing (snow) day to coincide with Passover, saying the change would signal support for Jewish families and better accommodate religious observance.

"I urge you, just please make the right decision," parent Iftak Bishan said during public comment, asking the board to use the day to send "a very strong message" that schools are welcoming to the Jewish community.

Why it matters: Callers said omitting Passover from the district calendar was felt as exclusionary by some families and could have been avoided by assigning an extra day to match the holiday. Board members and the administration responded that the calendar decision was made after weighing instructional needs, standardized test dates and other scheduling constraints, and noted state rules on excused religious absences.

Residents pressed the board for clearer process and more public input. "It feels like the board just makes decisions without getting public input," Orly Goldfeld said, urging the board to explain its reasoning before taking public actions. Lilia Nissen described community disappointment and proposed a policy alternative: allow families who observe Passover to take the day as an excused absence without penalty.

Trustees acknowledged the hurt expressed by speakers and explained legal and procedural limits. A board leader read state guidance noting that "any student absent from school because of a religious holiday may not be deprived of any award or of eligibility or opportunity to compete for any award" and said families may present a written excuse to secure excused absence status.

Trustee Ms. Carr, who identified herself as a Jewish community member and trustee, said, "Our Jewish community is in pain," and urged sensitivity to those feelings even as she acknowledged the board had attempted to balance competing needs across a diverse district.

What the board said it will do: Trustees invited the community to petition the district if families want the board to consider formally observing additional religious holidays in the annual calendar review process held around November or December. The chair said administrators would respond to emailed concerns and that the district would recognize excused religious absences per state statute.

Next steps: The board closed the public-comment period, moved forward with consent agendas and other business, and said it will accept formal petitions during the calendar-review cycle rather than reopen the current calendar midyear.