Jewish holidays added to school calendar
The Redondo Beach Unified School District Board of Education Tuesday night added Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to the district’s non-school day holidays. The two days mark the beginning and end of the 10 day period known as the Jewish High Holy Days each September. The only religious holiday previously observed in the district is Christmas. Students also take a weeklong break from school informally known as “ski week” each spring. Assistant Superintendent Nancy Billinger said the fundamental consideration for observing the two Jewish holidays was the fiscal impact of not doing so. Student attendance on those two days has increasingly lagged, she said, and has thus decreased state funding based on daily enrollment. “We are only funded as a school district when there are students in the seats,” Billinger said. “So anytime we have a big dip in student enrollment on certain days, there is a big dip in funding. Based on that we took a look at way we could regain the funding.” Billinger said that the district would still be required, by state law, to provide 180 days of school to students. Days will be added at the beginning or end of the school year. Members of the local Jewish…
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