During a Zoom listening session Sunday evening, the School Committee and Superintendent Evan Bishop received comments about what the school calendar should include in the future.
School Committee chair Kyla McSweeney said members would not be offering answers and would hold another session to gain input in-person on Oct. 9. After that, the board will deliberate publicly on the matter, “keeping track of the insights” they are gathering.
McSweeney explained that the contract with teachers, settled in June, mandates schedule accommodations including a start date for teachers on the Monday before Labor Day and an off day on the Friday of that week.
She noted Hopkinton is a growing and diverse community, and the current calendar’s inclusion of various religious and cultural holidays reflects the district’s “all means all” philosophy.
If the calendar remains the same as this school year, future end dates will be June 18, June 22, June 15 and June 18, without snow days. With snow dates, the end dates would be June 22-26, June 23-29, June 16-23 and June 20-24.
The question is whether to have only a dozen state-mandated holidays off and end earlier in June, or stick with the calendar that was changed a few years ago to be more inclusive of different religions and cultures.
Resident Nathan Long said he has spoken to several people who want the calendar to change, while not targeting a specific group or religion. He said only having the required holidays instead of “random” Tuesday and Thursday ones, for example, would allow for an earlier end date. Meanwhile, people who observe the holidays could keep their kids out of school.
Sravana Krishna said the calendar should be consistent, and if it is to be inclusive, either all observances should be included or none.
Janice Barry said it is better for families to have early release days spread out more evenly, noting there are three in November as well as the days off around Thanksgiving and Election Day.
A teacher in another district, Barry suggested the School Committee conduct a straw poll with teachers to see if the union would buy into changes to the contract about the calendar rather than keeping the district locked in for another three years.
Barry noted Good Friday is not a federal holiday and should be reconsidered as a half day or given similar treatment to other religious holidays.
Advocating for being respectful for all, she added, “If we go backwards, it will reflect very badly on the community.”
Andrew Kessler said he served on the School Committee nine years ago when it worked on the school calendar. He said when Jewish holidays were removed from it, there was an uproar.
Kessler said it is important to be mindful that people over the years put time and energy into making the calendar more diversified and respectful of different cultures.
Nicole St. Pierre said having no school the Friday before Labor Day seems excessive. She suggested students starting school the Monday or Tuesday before Labor Day and having “yellow” holidays. These would be when students can have excused absences (to observe certain holidays) without explanation, and no tests would be administered.
She said her initial opinion has changed and she is in favor of respecting all faiths and beliefs, “especially now as people don’t feel valued.”
Sarah Slottje noted an end date of June 23 (without snow days) is a tough pill to swallow. She asked how the district could mitigate that situation with an eye to getting the kids out as soon as possible.
“They are only this young once. … Do what you can to honor their summers,” she said.
Another participant who identified himself only as Michael spoke in favor of starting school after Labor Day. He said the “random” holidays put a burden on working families who must pay for babysitters or miss work, and “it doesn’t make sense.”
He opined that it would make better use of students’ time to learn about the other cultures and their specific holidays on those days rather than have a day off from school.
Mina Tiber spoke in favor of increasing the number of excused absences. She also said it is not conducive to learning for students to be in the late-June summer heat with no air conditioning.
McSweeney noted that the School Committee has no plans to do another community survey. The one last year had a low response rate and mixed reactions. At a previous meeting, member Jamie Wronka said some people felt the wording on it was “murky” and unclear.
At that same meeting, Assistant Superintendent Jeff LaBroad said the communities following only federal holidays are Judeo-Christian based, and “that’s not Hopkinton’s makeup.”
The largest 250 employers in Massachusetts tend to have very similar holiday calendars as compared to Harvard University. Here is Harvard University’s paid time off days for staff:
2026
New Year’s Day – Thursday, January 1, 2026
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Monday, January 19
Presidents’ Day – Monday, February 16
Memorial Day – Monday, May 25
Juneteenth – Friday, June 19
Independence Day – Friday, July 3 (observed)
Labor Day – Monday, September 7
Columbus Day (Federal) / Indigenous Peoples’ Day (City of Cambridge) – Monday, October 12
Veterans Day – Wednesday, November 11
Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 26
Friday after Thanksgiving – Friday, November 27
Christmas Eve 1/2 day – Thursday, December 24
Christmas Day – Friday, December 25
Winter Recess – December 28 to December 31
Brigham and Women’s observes the Following Holidays (Mass General Brigham is the largest employer in MA)
Holiday: BWH Observed Date
January 1: New Year’s Day
Third Monday in January: Martin Luther King’s Birthday
Third Monday in February: Presidents Day
Last Monday in May: Memorial Day
June 19: Juneteenth
July 4: Independence Day
First Monday in September: Labor Day
Second Monday in October: Indigenous Peoples Day
Fourth Thursday in November: Thanksgiving Day
December 25: Christmas Day
Assuming that the majority of parents are employed in Massachusetts, it would make sense that their work holiday schedule would be similar to what is shown above (excluding personal days/accrued vacation). In preparing students to enter both colleges and the workforce, we should consider that the holiday calendar at local universities and places of employment may vary from what we currently observe in Hopkinton.
By prolonging the school year, we will potentially send students into overheated buildings to attend class and take final exams. Students may be at higher risk of heat exhaustion/heat stroke, particularly in PE and after school sports. It is unfortunate for students and teachers to be stuck in hot classrooms for many hours with no reprieve. Is this the most productive learning environment for students? Should we prioritize religion or education?
The starting point for deciding if and when public schools should close on a religious holiday is the First Amendment. Under the Establishment clause, schools may not close for religious reasons or to accommodate the religious requirements of any faith. Public schools may only add a religious holiday as a “day off” if, and only if, there is a legitimate secular purpose for doing so — a purpose that is consistent with the educational mission of public schools. The most obvious secular reason for shutting schools on a religious holiday is absenteeism. If a large number of students and teachers aren’t in school, the district can probably justify adding that day to the list of days when schools are closed. What constitutes high abenteeism in Hopkinton for any given potential holiday? It would be very interesting to see historical absentee data for each holiday that we have chosen to add to the calendar versus the total students enrolled in the district that year.
In America today, expanding religious diversity makes it impractical to keep adding religious holidays to the school calendar without strong evidence that classes can’t function well on those days. And even with such evidence, schools can’t keep adding days off without seriously undermining their educational mission. All public schools can, however, accommodate students of all faiths by having a clear policy allowing every student a reasonable number of excused absences for religious observance — without penalty. And schools can level the playing field somewhat by trying to avoid scheduling major tests and events on religious holidays that are widely celebrated in their community. Although schools can’t close for every religious holy day, they can find ways to make sure that students of all faiths and none are treated with fairness and respect.
Excellent points here. Students should be allowed to have time off for religious observances on an as needed basis with flexibility given for making up work/tests; there is no need to close the schools and interrupt learning for the rest of the students.
I am strongly in favor of a school calendar that only recognizes the required holidays and allows a “floating holiday” for a family to use on a religious or cultural day if they are inclined. I feel this is the best option for equity in the district by treating all religions and cultures the same. It is the best option for the education of the children in the district to allow a more consistent schedule. It is also the best & fairest option for families, especially working families who often have to find child care because these are not days off from work.
Someone on the recent zoom listening session asked for a list of holidays that HPS recognizes. The answer from the School Committee was that the school calendar is available on the website. However, going over the current calendar doesn’t answer the question because if there is a day that would be recognized by HPS with a day off but falls on a weekend or vacation week it doesn’t show up on the calendar. Is there a list of all the potential days that could be school holidays? Without knowing the exact list I do not believe that any one religion or group has more than one or two holidays that are recognized by the school system. However, I believe HPS students have 5 or 6 of these days off. I do not understand the philosophy of having every student off for 5 or 6 work days during the year so that some can have that one day off. It would be far less disturbing to every family with children in the school system to allow for a floating holiday to celebrate Good Friday or Chinese New Year or Eid if they choose. I would also imagine it would be beneficial for the educators to have more consistent schedules. Reducing the number of disturbances to the weekly schedule would improve the flow of the school year and allow students to maintain the rhythm of a five day week. Also, from an anecdotal perspective, students are going to learn more on a Tuesday in October than Tuesday June 23rd.
I used the phrase “work days” because these are days that if both parents work childcare must be arranged. If someone has to arrange childcare for two kids 5 or 6 times a year it can be a very large expense. These days off can cost a family $1,000-1,500 every year. I again would suggest that having a floating holiday system would allow each religion or group to take their meaningful holiday off without forcing the rest of the district to scramble for childcare the other 5 or 6 days. If someone wants to take Rosh Hashanah off they can but they won’t have to find childcare for Good Friday, Chinese New Year or Eid. This is not an exclusionary approach. It is all-encompassing.
Another person on the zoom session referenced the changes made to the calendar 9 years ago to add many of the holidays that are currently on the schedule and said he did not want to “take a step backward”. I agree that we wouldn’t want to take a step backward but taking a step backward would be going to a calendar that only recognizes certain holidays as was the case 9 years ago. Instead it is actually taking a step FORWARD from our current calendar by allowing EVERYONE to decide which days are meaningful enough for them and their families to take off.
Someone else mentioned that the goal should be to have students out in June before the federal holiday on the 19th. I agree with this and would take things a step further by saying that the goal should be a few days before the 19th because just one snow day this year pushes the last day from June 18th to June 22nd. June 22nd is too late for the students to be getting out for the summer and if they have school that day I would expect the district’s attendance on that day will be one of the lowest of the year. The defacto last day for many will be the 17th. The district will be wasting a day.
I think the work done 9 years ago brought attention to the issues caused by recognizing just certain holidays but it is time to advance that work by continuing to acknowledge the many different cultures in Hopkinton and allowing each family to decide which day or days are important to them.
How might “yellow holidays” help schools honor cultural and personal observances while maintaining academic continuity and reducing unnecessary absences?
What if the mark of a truly great teacher isn’t taking credit—but stepping quietly to the side so a student’s effort, growth, and achievement can shine unobscured?