PTC Supports the Addition of Diwali, Eid and the Lunar New Year to School Calendar

(This letter was submitted by the Scarsdale PTC)
To the Board of Education:

The Scarsdale PT Council has been working closely with the District over the course of the last few years to make Diversity, Equity and Inclusion a priority within our schools, both at the curriculum level and throughout our many PTC and PTA offerings. We are fortunate to live in a diverse community with people of all different backgrounds, who celebrate many different holidays, festivals and cultural events.

The PT Council thinks it is of the utmost importance for all community members to feel included and for our students, of all backgrounds, to have an equitable experience. That equity would be vastly improved by adding the proposed holidays; Diwali, Lunar New Year, Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha, to our district calendar for days off of school. We applaud and support any efforts by the District and faculty to limit the amount of work and tests and/or allow extensions for students who celebrate and observe these or other holidays. However, these options, as we've repeatedly heard from our students, can add other stress to their and their families' lives as they feel pressure to keep up with their classmates who are in school, making it difficult for them to fully enjoy their holidays.

As Dr. Patrick showed in his thorough calendar-look backwards and forwards, it is possible to add these holidays as days off, with limited disruption to the calendar overall. Other school districts from NYC to NJ are making these changes and we would love to lead the way for Westchester schools to do the same. For these reasons, the PT Council Executive Committee and our PTC DEI Co-Chairs are in full support of making this change going forward. Thank you for your consideration.

Lauren Grossberg, PTC President 2022-2023
Leah Dembitzer, PTC President-Elect
Rokaya Hassaballa, PTC Treasurer 2022-2024
Meredith Kent, PTC Secretary
Dalya Khan, PTC DEI Co-Chair
Diksha Mudbhary, PTC DEI Co-Chair
Vanessa Cheyney Stoffels, SHS PTA President
Deborah Lichtenstein, SMS PTA President
Samantha April, Heathcote PTA President
Rachel Krisbergh, Greenacres PTA President
Berit Berger & Michelle Schwartz, Fox Meadow PTA Presidents
Andrea Vallenilla and Alicia Bowman, Edgewood PTA Presidents
Dana Hirsch, Quaker Ridge PTA President