There was much anticipation before the Greenwich Board of Education approved the 2026-2027 school year calendar.
Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones said parents had been asking for a month about the calendar because their family plans were already in the works.
An updated draft of the proposed calendar had been posted late in the day, reflecting a change in a school break from March to April to reflect survey feedback.
During public comment several students and parents spoke about adding Hindu holidays including Diwali and the Lunar New Year.
Parent, Aimee Muth said the school calendar should be more inclusive.
“On June 10 of this year, Governor Lamont signed a law officially recognizing Diwali. It goes into effect on Oct 1, and several districts including West Hartford, Avon and South Windsor have already committed to closing schools in observance.”
This is not just about days off, but about respect and fairness. For too long, students from minority faiths have had to ask for special permission to miss school to celebrate with their families,” Muuth said. “That request, however small it seems, sends a powerful message: your traditions are not part of the community norm. We have already seen that othering leads to dismissive or disparaging comments in classrooms. No student should ever feel their cultural or religious identity is something to be explained, excused or minimized.”
Ms Muuth pointed out that data reflected changes in school enrollment, and that district wide almost 10% of students are Asian, and over 6% identify as multi racial, many of whom observe these holidays.
She noted at North Mianus School, the percentage was closer to 15%. At Julian Curtiss and Cos Cob Schools, Asian and multi racial students make up nearly one-fifth of students.
“These are not small numbers; these are our children, their classmates and their friends,” Muuth said.
Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones said the change of spring break from March to April reflected feedback from about 1,000 staff and parent responses, with 76% preferring break in April (April 12-16) and 24% preferring break in March (March 29 to April 2).
Also, Jones said that other districts in Connecticut also have breaks from April 12-16, and there were benefits of aligning with them.For example she said teachers have children in another district or a spouse teaching in another district.
“Again, when we talk about teacher absenteeism, it’s difficult when we’re (having break) a different week.”
Jones said there had also been a lot of feedback about the evening parent conference.
“It wasn’t that we had done away with the evening; elementary now has two conferences and only one of those has an evening. We had put the evening one in the spring and I moved it back to the fall based on parent and teacher feedback.”
Also, she said a teacher collab day was moved to Jan 26 from November, because November is already such a busy time.
The board noted that the Hindu holiday, Diwali, falls on a Sunday in 2026.
BOE chair Karen Hirsh suggested the board have a discussion on recognizing additional religious holidays, Diwali in particular.
She noted that since Diwali falls on a Sunday in 2026, a potential day off would not apply until the following year, but she suggested discussing the additional holidays going forward.
She noted that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are not state recognized requirements for days off, but the district chooses to have those days off.
Also, she noted the state does not require the district to close schools on Good Friday, but the district does anyway.
Hirsh noted that the board had time to consider the ramifications of adding more religious holidays to the school calendar.
“I don’t think anybody is against having the religious observance, what you have to figure out is what are you giving up on the calendar. Right now, with snow days, were at June 22,” Dr. Jones said, adding that extending school beyond that creates struggles for children headed to camps.
She said starting earlier in August was not an option.
She said that instead of a week long break in February, some of those days could instead be instructional days.
Jones also said it was also important to factor in scheduled facilities work that continues up until the day school starts, and not losing a day of work on projects including Hamilton Ave School geothermal and parking lot projects, and Old Greenwich and Julian Curtiss construction, as well as the anticipated completion of work on the new Central Middle School.
Dr. Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony said the conversation about adding holidays to the school calendar should take place in the policy committee.
Sophie Koven who is also on that committee suggested looking ahead at 5 or 10 years of calendars.
The board voted 6-0 in favor of the revised GPS calendar with an additional revision for school conferences on March 10 to be moved to an alternate date.
Voting were Kathleen Stowe, Dr. Mercanti-Anthony, Sophie Koven, Laura Kosten, Karen Hirsh, Jen Behette.
Cody Kittle and Wendy Vizzo Walsh were absent.
