After hearing multiple options to substitute days to have Veterans Day off for the 2024-2025 school year, the School Board decided to keep the calendar as is with the committee considering honoring it as a day off the following school year.

“Essentially, the committee without formal votes stood by the committee’s work,” interim Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage said.

He said the committee does believe Veterans Day is recognized educationally speaking.

“They do utilize it as an opportunity to highlight and support veterans while they are there,” Savage said.

The board was given other options — maintaining exactly what the committee adopted and recognized, or having some level of substitution by taking an existing holiday and trading that out.

During the first semester those days were the first Monday of winter break, the first Monday of Thanksgiving break, or Rosh Hashanah in October. Another option was extending the first semester into January, swapping President’s Day, or Easter Monday, or extending the last day of the school year to June 2, rather than May 30.

“This complexity is precisely why there is a committee that does the work. This is why they didn’t make an amendment,” Savage said.

The board, although all thought Veterans Day should be honored, were okay with waiting until the next school year.

“I would love to see veterans honored every year. I would really like the calendar committee to consider Veterans Day here on out,” said Board member Jada Langford-Fleming, who initially made the motion.

She said she would really like veterans to be recognized somehow, some way in every classroom in every school this year.

Langford-Fleming said they should pull data and statistics on the top days that students call out of school, so they can save money, transportation, and substitutes.

“I think that is brilliant. That should happen,” Board member Cathleen Morgan said.