The Loudoun County School Board adopted a religiously diverse calendar for the 2028-29 school year, as opposed to one based on the federal holiday calendar that only included major Christian holidays, by a 5-4 vote and after a contentious debate.
Catoctin District board member Kari Labell, who voted in favor of the federally aligned calendar, argued that, besides Christmas, the diverse calendar was not equitable toward all religions, particularly Christianity.
“Things like Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday — all of those days are Christian holidays,” Labell said. “There are many, many saints’ days that we celebrate in the Christian religion. None of that is accounted for on this calendar. We are not a religious institution. We are an educational institution.”
The 2028-29 calendar includes the Lunar New Year, Diwali, Rosh Hashanah and Eid al-Fitr. Several board members remarked that recognizing these holidays would represent good-faith efforts to respect the diversity of the district.
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Board member Ross Svenson represents Broad Run, an area with a heavy Indian American population. He said nearly a “quarter of a class could be absent” during Diwali if the religiously diverse calendar were not accepted, causing disruption for all students and making it harder for teachers to plan.
Svenson added that while there is “no solution that makes everyone happy,” accepting the inclusive calendar was the “right thing to do.”
The board typically approves calendars two years in advance. School districts around the country usually observe federally recognized holidays, but creating calendars is left up to local and state officials.
In Loudoun County, input from community sessions and student, parent and teacher surveys was also considered. Board Chair and Algonkian District member April Chandler said the board received up to 200 emails an hour related to the calendar decision.
Recalling a conversation she’d had with a constituent last school year, Chandler said tests, school assemblies and even field trips scheduled on the major observances of other cultures could force some parents into hard decisions.
“On the second-most important religious holiday in Islam, at one of the schools in my district, there was a field trip scheduled on that day, and in having the conversation with that parent, I was devastated to think about what that decision must be like, to have to step away from your religious observation to choose between school and your religious holiday,” she said.
Sterling District board member Amy Riccardi, who voted in favor of the federally aligned calendar, argued that students are allowed excused absences for religious reasons. She said constituents affected by a precarious regional economy told her they would be able to better plan around federal holidays rather than the “random” time of multiple cultural holidays.
“These are mostly people that are working hourly wages, and on those days off, they can’t work,” she said. “You have families that are really struggling to make ends meet. Every day that their children are off of school is another day that their family is not earning income.”
In a statement, Loudoun County Public Schools minority committee chair Jasmine Tyler said “an inclusive calendar recognizes that our students do not all share the same traditions and holidays, but that they are important and worth observing.”
LCPS is not the only area public school system to try to alter the religious observances recognized on its school calendar. Last winter, Montgomery County Public Schools initially made Eid al-Fitr a snow make-up day, but the school board reversed the decision after community backlash.
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