Schoolwide holidays on Yom Kippur are a rarity west of Brooklyn, but Piedmont students and teachers will be getting just that Oct. 6.
Interestingly, however, district administrators and teachers never intended to take the Day of Atonement off — things just worked out that way.
“Quite honestly, it was totally by accident. When we realized what day it was, we realized it was a good one for people not to be here, but it was not done intentionally,” said Nancy McHugh, the principal of Beach Elementary School.
“We were looking for a midpoint break for teachers and students between the beginning of school and Thanksgiving break, and that fell right in the middle.”
Noted Piedmont Superintendent Connie Hubbard, “It was going to be that Monday or the next Monday, so why not?”
California schools are required to hold classes 180 days a year, with individual districts given leeway in determining their own winter breaks or three-day weekends.
Piedmont students and teachers have never before gotten Yom Kippur off. But, then again, Yom Kippur hadn’t previously fallen upon a Monday or Friday at the exact time the teachers’ union and administration were looking to create a three-day weekend.
“This is not because it’s Yom Kippur. We were going to have a day off. The calendar changes from year to year and this just seemed to address two issues at once,” said Hubbard.
On the other hand, “A lot of students are out anyway, so why not do that? No one’s complaining.”