Diwali, Juneteenth Added As Hillsborough School Holidays

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The holidays celebrating the popular Hindu festival and the end of slavery in the United States will now be recognized in Hillsborough Schools.

The Hillsborough Board of Education unanimously voted at the Monday night meeting to update and add Diwali and Juneteenth as holidays to the 2022-2023 school calendar.

Board President Paul Marini said he was happy to announce the news of the holidays after much discussion. The school district will be closed on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in observance of Diwali and Friday, June 16 in observance of Juneteenth.

Board Member Benjamin Kidd also said he was "happy" about the decision to address the district calendar.

"I feel like we were able to properly address the concerns of the community that were made clear at other board meetings," said Kidd.

At the Jan. 24 meeting, Marini said the board asked the administration to look into the option of adding Diwali as a holiday after township residents made comments on social media and through email requesting it. Read More: Hillsborough Considers Adding Diwali As School Holiday

In order to make Diwali and Juneteenth official school holidays, the district needed to adjust the school calendar, which must have 180 education days.

Marini previously said the board suggested that the administration consider adjusting the graduation date by moving it by one day.

To accommodate both new holidays, students' last day of school and graduation was moved back and will now be held on June 22, 2023. The last day of school and graduation for the 2021-2022 school year is June 20, 2022.

Diwali, also known as Deepavali or Dipavali, originates from the Sanskrit word dipavali meaning "row or series of lights."

The "Festival of Lights," as Diwali is also known, is considered one of the most significant events on the Indian Calendar. Diwali celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil, symbolized by the lighting of lamps in homes, temples, shops, and buildings around the world as it ushers in the Indian New Year.

Juneteenth marks the date (June 19, 1865) when Union soldiers freed the last remaining slaves in Texas, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation long after it was originally issued by President Abraham Lincoln on New Year's Day of 1863.

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