Calendar Change Leads To Uproar In Cinnaminson's Jewish Community

Cinnaminson, NJ -- Amid statements from the public that their actions are discriminatory, Cinnaminson Board of Education members attempted to explain that their decision to open school on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur was meant to do just the opposite.

“I have been on this school board for 25 years, and when I was in school in 1955, we didn’t have any religious holidays,” Board Member Harry Shea said. “I voted for this and when I did, I thought I was being non-discriminatory.”

That isn’t the message the public got, though.

The decision to remove the days from the district’s holiday calendar after 40 years is the result of a “significant reduction in the Jewish population and the rise of the populations of other religions,” particularly the Muslim religion, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Salvatore Illuzzi told a packed cafeteria during Tuesday night’s meeting at the middle school.

“Christmas and Good Friday are government/religious holidays,” Illuzzi explained in response to questions as to why the Christian holidays are the only ones that remain as days off for the 2016-17 school year. “Jewish holidays are religious holidays. In this community, changes are occurring.”

He pointed specifically to the growth of the Cinnaminson Harbour Community as the catalyst for a drastic increase in the school’s population. He said many of the new students are of the Muslim religion.

“The Muslim population is now equal to the Jewish population,” Illuzzi said. “We can’t continue to have the Jewish holidays and not the Muslim holidays. Are their holidays worth less than yours?”

Kimberly Horowitz, 20, is an alum of the Cinnaminson School District and expressed concern over that explanation following the meeting.

“I was taught that you stand up for everyone around you,” Horowitz said. “Everyone has the right to express their own religion, and their own faith.”

The decision to remove the two highest holidays in the Jewish religion was made during the December meeting. The calendar is typically approved in November, but the school board put off the decision for a month in anticipation of a backlash over the calendar in the winter. When none came, the district went ahead with the changes.

However, those who came out for Tuesday night’s meeting challenged the way the district gathered its information, and the way in which the community was told about the change.

The district initially gathered its information by consulting Temple Sinai, the synagogue located on New Albany Road in Cinnaminson.

But those who spoke out Tuesday night pointed out that many Jewish families don’t attend that synagogue, or practice at a location outside Cinnaminson.

The district also consulted with the teachers union, which came to the conclusion that 15 members of the district’s 400-member staff are Jewish. The district also came to the conclusion that there are between 80 and 100 Jewish students in the 2,500 student district.

To take off from school, staff members will need to use personal days, for which there are two a year in the district.

There was also concern for staff who work in the district but live in districts where their children will have off from school for the holidays, creating a need for them to take off as well.

Members of the public who spoke ranged from members of Temple Sinai to Jewish members of the community not affiliated with the synagogue to residents of other towns who were “appalled” by the district’s decision to eliminate the Jewish holidays.

Many responded that the Jewish population isn’t very high across the country, and that whether the district intended it to appear this way or not, it looked as though the Cinnaminson School District was discriminating against a certain group of people.

School officials said students and staff are permitted to miss a day of school for religious reasons without being penalized.

However, Jewish members of the public say pulling their children from school during a day in which everyone else attends not only accentuates the differences, but may make the child feel as though they are doing something wrong. It could also lead to harassment and bullying.

“Our country is really hurting right now. There is too much divisiveness,” said Jerome David, the senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill. “The message you are sending right now appears to feed into the climate that is pervading our society.”

Even if students did attend school, there are certain religious limitations that would prevent them from doing work. There was also concern about sports and activities that can now take place these days, since they will be considered full days of school.

Speakers also suggested that had the district come to Temple Sinai and communicated directly with the congregation about its intentions, there could’ve been a dialogue and the backlash might not have been as great. They also hoped other school districts didn’t follow Cinnaminson’s lead.

Board Member Dennis Hassis said he voted against the change.

“I hope we can revisit the calendar and make a decision that’s acceptable to the community,” Hassis said.
Other members of the nine-member board said they voted in favor of the change, but made clear they weren’t acting in a discriminating way, with many speaking of their ties to the Jewish community.

Christmas remains a day off because it is a federally recognized holiday, and has been since 1870.

In New Jersey, Good Friday, which comes two days before Easter Sunday, is a state holiday.

The Jewish and Muslim holidays are recognized as religious holidays, and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution prohibits public schools from closing specifically for religious holidays. It does allow schools to close for secular reasons related to the observation of the holiday, though.

Illuzzi says this is why the district has been closed for the Jewish holidays for 40 years, but quotes the reduction of a Jewish population as the reason for the removal of the holidays.

In New Jersey, a district must have school for 180 days. For the upcoming year, Cinnaminson’s calendar includes 23 days off, including federal holidays, spring and winter breaks and teacher in-service days.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur would consist of between two and three days off, and the inclusion of the Muslim holidays would require yet another three days off from school.

Rosh Hashanah is Oct. 3-4, and Yom Kippur is Oct. 12 this year.

The Muslim holy day of Waqf al Arafa is Sept. 10; Eid al-Adha is Sept. 13; and Hijra, the Muslim New Year, is Oct. 3.

To view the school calendar for the 2016-17 school year, visit cinnaminson.com.