The Spotsylvania County School Board didn’t have many opportunities to debate during its regular meeting on Monday.
But there was one vote that divided the board — whether to have a three-day or five-day break for Thanksgiving when establishing the 2027-28 school calendar.
The board voted 5-2 for the three-day break with Larry DiBella of the Berkeley District and Rich Lieberman of the Lee Hill District casting the dissenting votes. Salem District representative Lorita Daniels voted with DiBella and Lieberman in favor of the five-day week but changed her vote after that motion failed.
Those who voted in favor of the Wednesday through Friday break cited the opportunity to potentially use the other two days to observe Jewish and Muslim holidays at other points in the school year.
The move is a shift from the current calendar which provides five days off for the fall break.
“Some of the holidays we’ve begun to observe in this calendar are falling on weekends, but if we want to continue to observe and be more inclusive of all of our families, something has to give,” said Vice Chair Belen Rodas of the Chancellor District. “What I don’t want to do is pit anybody against anybody. I want everybody’s traditions to be honored, welcomed and included.”
Rodas said Monday’s vote gives families and staff ample time to plan and adjust, since it doesn’t take effect until the 2027-28 school year. She said she’s pleased that the school division is recognizing a diverse set of holidays.
“Our population is changing and we need to change with it,” she said.
DiBella and Lieberman were in favor of the five-day fall break in part because they said the first two days of Thanksgiving week are lightly attended. But Rodas retorted that she doesn’t want absenteeism concerns to continue being a major factor in setting up the instructional calendar.
DiBella, who previously served as a school resource officer, also said the days are “fairly worthless” in terms of education as they’re typically marked by movies and parties in anticipation of the holiday.
“I understand the argument about wanting to make room for those other holidays, but we’re not doing that in this calendar, so it doesn’t make sense to me that we’re going to add additional days and shorten people’s Thanksgiving breaks for something that might happen in a future year,” DiBella said. “If we can meet the requirements in the calendar in giving them the week off, I don’t understand why we would send them to school for two extra days.”
Division staff presented two calendar options to the board after a calendar committee met once each in January, February, and March. A calendar survey netted 2,636 responses to provide feedback to the committee. The only difference between the two proposals the committee submitted to the board was the fall break scenarios.
The school year will begin with transition day for kindergartners, sixth graders and high school freshmen on Aug. 10. The year will end on May 26.
At the start of Monday’s meeting, Chair Megan Jackson called for moments of silence for Kyle Derby, Antonio Rubsam and Dylan Stanley, the three Spotsylvania High School seniors who died in a car accident last month.
