The Board of Education unanimously approved next school year’s academic calendar, but not without discussion.
Dec. 24 and 25 of 2015 is labeled as the “Christmas Holidays” on the current iteration of the calendar while Sept. 14 and 23 are labeled as “Local Holiday,” despite the fact that they are in observance of the Jewish holy days Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, respectively.
Boardmember Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein asked the district to consider labeling the Jewish holidays. Jose Escarce suggested, instead, removing the designation of the Christmas Holidays — an idea Tahvildaran- Jesswein disagreed with.
District officials were asked to examine the legality of recognizing the religious holidays.
This story originally appeared in the Santa Monica Daily Press.