Stamford School Board Adds Columbus Day, Veterans Day Back To Calendar

STAMFORD, CT — A little over three months after the Stamford Board of Education suddenly voted to hold classes on Columbus Day and Veterans Day over the next two years, the school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to add the holidays back to the calendars as days off.

The revote came after the district learned of potential fiscal impacts of holding classes on those days. Superintendent of Stamford Public Schools Dr. Tamu Lucero said that it would cost the district $106,000.

Lucero further explained that the school board's contracts with unions include a provision that allows employees to have a "floating" holiday if they work on the actual holiday. Two contracts on the city side do not have that provision.

"We thought we might be able to work that same provision out in many conversations with them," Lucero said.

In January, the school board voted 5-3 to remove the holidays from the school calendars in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.

At the time, board member Joshua Esses put forward a motion to remove Columbus Day and Veterans Day, plus Juneteenth, the Muslim holiday Eid-Al Fitr, which was added to the calendar as a day off in January 2023, and the second day of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.

Juneteenth was kept on the calendar, and the motion to remove Eid-Al Fitr and the second day of Rosh Hashanah did not receive support from fellow board members.

Those in favor of cutting Columbus Day and Veterans Day were Esses, Michael Hyman, Gabriela Koc, Versha Munshi-South and Antonia Better-Wirz. Andy George, Becky Hamman and Michael Larobina voted against it. Board President Jackie Heftman was absent.

Esses said then he felt the school year, which routinely stretches into mid-June, was too long, and that there had to be "some relatively costless ways" to shorten the year.

Upon learning of the potential fiscal impacts of moving forward with the calendar as it was voted on in January, Esses said he was willing to change his vote.

"When this agenda item first came before the board, I inquired, and other members of the board inquired, as to whether there would be a fiscal impact. The best understanding at that time... was that we thought there wouldn't be a fiscal impact," Esses said Tuesday. "As it turns out, that is not the case. I had always believed at the time that if there was a material fiscal impact as there will be, I would not have supported moving the holidays to in-school, and thus I will be changing my vote to reinstate the holidays."

In 2023, there were some conversations early in the calendar planning process about removing Columbus Day and Veterans Day from the calendar, but the school board received pushback from the community and the holidays remained, as in previous years.

The January vote to remove the holidays sparked community outrage again and caused national media attention. Members from veteran and Italian American groups rallied at the Stamford Government Center and spoke passionately at public meetings.

Esses thanked members of the community for speaking out about the holidays and the importance of having them included on the calendar.

"I have always believed that these days should be treated as meaningful and not just as any other day," Esses added. "I hope those members of the community who have fiercely advocated over the past months to bring the holidays back work to ensure that they're given the meaning that they deserve."

According to state law, school districts must provide instruction about any federal holidays should schools remain open. SPS began to develop curriculum for Columbus and Veterans Day in recent weeks.

"Given that schools will be closed, the district is unlikely to continue developing a PreK-12 curriculum specific to those holidays," SPS spokesperson Kathleen Steinberg told Patch following Tuesday's vote.