Local Jewish leaders and a Kickemuit Middle School teacher want the Bristol Warren Regional School District to reconsider a recent decision to open school this fall on Tuesday, Sept. 7, which this year is the date of Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish holy day.

On Monday, June 14, the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee declined to reconsider a May decision to start school on that date. Warren committee member Nicky Piper brought the request forward, saying she had received correspondence from residents who asked that the school committee take a second look at the date and whether the starting day could be moved. But her motion to discuss the matter among the full committee failed 5-4, with chairwoman Marge McBride and members Tara Thibaudeau, Victor Cabral, Sheila Ellsworth and Karen Cabral voting against any further discussion.

“Our attorney says there’s no discussion at this point,” Ms. McBride said, noting that discussion would only have been allowed had Ms. Piper’s motion passed.

“So no conversation even?” Ms. Piper asked.

“No.”

“Democracy in action,” Ms. Piper replied.

“Guys, this is a religious holiday,” Ms. Reich said.

“We are showing who we are,” Ms. Piper said.

Most district avoid starting on Rosh Hashanah

Bristol Warren is one of five districts statewide that will start on Rosh Hashanah this fall, joining districts in Burrillville, Little Compton, Portsmouth and Westerly. School will run through Thursday, June 16, 2022.

Following the June 14 meeting, several Jewish leaders across the state criticized the school committee for its decision, saying the holy day should be respected, as are others, including Christmas.

“It speaks to unequal treatment of religious holidays, when one religion’s holiday is given off while another religion’s holiday is not," Cantor Dr. Joel Gluck of the United Brothers Synagogue in Bristol said in an interview on WPRI.

The matter was also addressed by Kickemuit Middle School science teacher Donna Stouber, who started an online petition she said was endorsed by the Bristol Warren Education Association, the district teachers’ union.

"We all know how important the first day of school is in setting the tone for the school year," she wrote with the petition, which by Monday had received 354 signatures.

“While I realize that there is a small minority of faculty, staff and students that observe the holiday, I am deeply concerned about the message it sends to our students and our community when even a small population is marginalized.”

By signing the petition, she said, community members would show the committee members that they should “place the needs of our students and their community over a desire to adhere to some arbitrary beginning and end dates for the school year.”

The original vote

The school committee’s original May vote to start on Rosh Hashanah came after member Tara Thibaudeau suggested reworking the start and end dates to better accommodate students, parents and teachers.

Under an earlier plan, students would have started on Sept. 8 but would not get out until Thursday, June 23. Ms. Thibaudeau and others said that is just too late, coming a full two weeks after graduation. Starting the day after Labor Day, she said, would be preferable.

“To have to go to school until the 23rd of June when we do not have air conditioning in our schools ... Students aren’t productive and neither are teachers, even though they say they are. I just agree with Tara,” said committee chairwoman Marge McBride.

There was little discussion on the timing of Rosh Hashanah this year, though the matter was broached by Ms. Reich, “since I seem to be the keeper of Hebrew holidays.”

“The way the district handles that is that anybody who has that as a holiday has the right to take that off with pay,” Ms. McBride replied. “That’s how we handle the different religious days that people have a right to put in for.”

Key dates in 2021-22 school year

• Sept. 7: First day of school
• Oct. 11: Columbus Day (no school)
• Nov. 11: Veterans’ Day (no school)
• Nov. 24-26: Thanksgiving recess
• Dec. 23-31: Winter recess
• Jan. 17, 2022: Martin Luther King Day (no school)
• Feb. 21-25, 2022: February recess
• April 15-22, 2022: Spring recess
• May 30, 2022: Memorial Day (no school)
• June 16, 2022: Last day of school (tentative)