Day Off For Juneteenth Added To School Calendar By Millburn Board

MILLBURN, NJ — At its last meeting on April 25, the Millburn Board of Education voted to close schools for two more days before the end of the school year.

The board approved the following changes:

• Friday, May 27, district closed for an unused snow day
• Friday, June 17, district closed in recognition of Juneteenth

Juneteenth is a new federal holiday commemorating the end of Slavery in the United States. It's also a state holiday in five states, including New Jersey.

When President Joe Biden signed the holiday into law last year, on June 17, 2021, he explained, "June 19th, 1865, a major general of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last enslaved Americans in Texas from bondage."

The act came over a month after Civil War General Robert E. Lee had surrendered on April 9.

"Your school principals will be sharing details at your school regarding any previously scheduled events" on those dates, said Superintendent Christine Burton in a recent message to the school community.

The 2021-2022 school calendar was updated with the new dates and can be found with this link.

Tentative calendars for future years are found here.

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