It took them a few tries, but Edison Board of Education members finally got it right.
Their decision last week to retain both Rosh Hashana holidays on the school calendar was the right one. By their actions, board members managed to defuse what could have turned into an even uglier situation.
In the end, the board voted 7- to-0 to approve a calendar that begins school Sept. 6 and ends June 19. Students will have off Oct. 4 and Oct. 5, and April 17.
The question is, what were board members thinking of when they even considered removing one or both of the Rosh Hashana days to begin with?
The move was almost guaranteed to cause some mayhem.
Tina O’Grady, president of the PTA at the Stillman School, had it right when she objected to holding class on Rosh Hashana.
“It’d be like having to go to school on Christmas,” she said. “They just can’t take it away.”
The board in January introduced a school calendar that called for students to attend school on both Jewish high holy days.
After that didn’t sit well with members of the Jewish community, the board voted on March 3 on an amended calendar that would have given back one Rosh Hashana holiday.
School officials defended their decision to make what they called an operational choice. They blamed the problem on time constraints in securing the Louis Brown Athletic Center at Rutgers University, where graduation is held each June.
Rabbi Bernhard H. Rosenberg of Congregation Beth El responded with outrage.
Rosenberg even called for Jewish staff members in the district to go on strike.
Granted, Edison has more diversity in its student population than most. School officials have the difficult task of trying to sandwich in holidays while making sure the district meets the state-mandated 180 days of school per year.
In the end, most seem pleased with the latest version of the calendar. Rosenberg, who lost family members in the Holocaust, praised the board for the revisions.
“They have to understand I have to fight with every breath of passion I have,” he said after the vote.