FARMINGTON, Conn. — In this holiday season, there’s a holiday controversy brewing in the sleepy suburb of Farmington, where the school board has chosen to eliminate some religious holidays from the school calendar.
This decision was handed down Monday night. The nine-member school board voted unanimously to eliminate two Jewish holidays from the school calendar and to reject calls from the South Asian community to add the festival of Diwali despite a growing vibrant population.
“I feel like I’m taking crazy pills here in brutal honesty,” stated Jason Mazur.
Mazur is Jewish and has two kids in the Farmington Schools. Specifically, the board voted to take Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah off the holiday calendar for the 2023-2024 school year. The board said it may cause equity issues for people of other religious groups. The district said that instead, kids who observe the holidays may be allowed to take an excused absence.
“An excused absence is not really a holiday because the next day you have to make up twice the work,” added Mazur.
Mazur’s philosophy is if you can’t beat ‘em, join them! He read a satirical speech in front of the school board sarcastically mocking the offensiveness of holidays.
“My name is Jason Mazur,” he read aloud at the microphone. “It’s been 21 days since my last holiday.”
Adding to the controversy, the board also decided to reject a year-long push by Farmington’s growing vibrant South Asian community to recognize the festival of Diwali.
Farmington parent Suraj Kurtakoti said, “This was kind of a shock, a disbelief for a lot of us, and a little bit of disappointment too.”
Conversely, the district did approve the observance of Indigenous Peoples Day, Italian American Heritage Day and Good Friday.
Farmington Board of Education Chair Elizabeth Fitzsimmons told FOX61 they came to their decision after consulting a chart designed by lawyers in their policy handbook, which asks members to consider staff and student absences and issues related to the extension of the school year.
“This decision-making chart will guide us going forward,” said Fitzsimmons.
“I hope they pivot from this decision,” said Angela Cianci.
Cianci is the Farmington mom leading the charge to get the board to reverse their decision saying it doesn’t align with what the district purports to be its core values.
“Inclusivity. Let’s be inclusive through addition. I don’t think the message was inclusivity through subtraction,” said Cianci. “Even if they don’t particularly celebrate a specific holiday, learning about their culture is how they become a global citizen and the district proclaims that that’s their mission to have our children become global citizens.”
Parents said Farmington has taken political correctness to the extreme inside the classroom as well, by banning celebrations or activities referencing non-religious holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“Growing up…I learned about all the different holidays out there,” said Mazur. “I didn’t think they were controversial. It’s not a controversial thing, it's really simple. It’s logical. I feel like the world has gone a little insane.”
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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