Subject: 2021-2022 Standard School Year Calendar

Staff Contact: Helen Nixon, assistant superintendent, Department of Human Resources

Meeting Category: June 18, 2020  - Regular Meeting

School Board Action Required: Discussion

Summary/Background (Key Points):

A committee was assembled for a third consecutive year to assist in the development of the calendar. The committee was composed of representatives from a variety of internal and external constituent groups which included community religious organization representatives, teachers, employees and principal association representatives, along with central office staff. The 2021-2022 Standard School Year Calendar was developed with a focus on instruction and learning time for students. While teaching and learning was the priority, a multitude of factors were considered and balanced during the development of the calendar. Additionally, the calendar committee received input and feedback from the recent Religious Observance Task Force and thus the draft calendars were created with an equity lens focus and provide consideration for four religious observance holidays – Rosh Hashanah (9/7/2021), Yom Kippur (9/16/2021), Diwali (11/4/2021), and Eid al Fitr (5/3/2022).

Recommendation: That the School Board adopt the 2021-2022 standard school year calendar.

Attachments: 2021_2022_standard_calendar_A1_draft, 2021_2022_standard_calendar_B1_draft

Proposed Board Member Amendment(s):

I move that the School Board rename the Columbus Day holiday to be “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” for the SY 20-21 calendar that has already been adopted, and for the SY 21-22 calendar that is yet to be approved. (Meren)

Rationale:

As a community that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and history, Fairfax County Public Schools should pivot from acknowledging Columbus Day, and instead celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“The mythology about Columbus and the “discovery” of the Americas continues to be many students’ first classroom lesson about encountering different cultures, ethnicities, and peoples. Teaching more accurate and complete narratives and differing perspectives is key to our society’s rethinking its history.”[1]

The land on which this nation rests had been occupied by indigenous peoples for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. Indigenous peoples have been and continue to be the victims of prejudice and systematic discrimination as a result of 500 years of

oppression and violence that began with European colonization, and it extends to the systematic oppression indigenous people face today throughout the Americas.

Columbus’ arrival in the Caribbean in 1492 opened the door for the European colonialism that brought about the destruction of the communities and people of indigenous peoples in the Americas, which includes the 50,000 Indigenous people of Virginia. Honoring Columbus perpetuates the “…Euro-American narrative that reinstitutes the marginalization of Indigenous cultures and knowledge. Indigenous peoples are left in the shadows of Euro-America’s destiny. Generations of Native people throughout the Western Hemisphere have protested Columbus Day. In the forefront of their minds is the fact the colonial takeovers of the Americas, starting with Columbus, led to the deaths of millions of Native people and the forced assimilation of survivors.”[2]

Our students and community deserve a more honest observance on this day, accompanied with teaching, that reframes “explorers” like Christopher Columbus not only as brave adventurers, but as the face of efforts to obtain land and people through any means they deemed necessary.

Instead of celebrating this legacy of genocide, our community should celebrate the many contributions made by indigenous peoples “…with activities that raise awareness of their rich history, culture, and traditions. They will do so thanks to Native people, their supporters, and others who have gathered for decades and continue to gather now at prayer vigils, powwows, symposiums, concerts, lectures, rallies, and classrooms to help America rethink American history.

A more factual and expansive experience of indigenous peoples’ culture and history is sorely needed in the present day, as per 2015 research by Sarah Shear, assistant professor of Social Studies Education at Penn State University–Altoona. Based on research on U.S. history standards from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Dr. Shear and her collaborators found that 87 percent of the references to Native Americans in U.S. curricula are in the context of American history before 1900. “The narrative presented in U.S. history standards,” they write, “when analyzed with a critical eye, directed students to see indigenous peoples as a long since forgotten episode in the country’s development.” Shear and her colleagues see serious implications in the way the United States teaches its history:”[3]

This shift aligns with FCPS Social Studies’ work to do significant curriculum revisions and professional development over the last 18 months to address the overrepresentation of white and Eurocentric history and the lack of diverse perspectives in social studies courses.

Recognizing the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day is one way that we as a county can work towards Caring Culture by, as our Strategic Plan states, “...fostering a responsive, caring, and inclusive culture where all feel valued, supported, and hopeful.”  With the number of indigenous people from Central and South America continually growing in Fairfax County and in the DMV area, joining in the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a step in the process of fostering an inclusive, equitable, and just community for all.

A few other examples:

Alexandria

https://www.alexandriava.gov/news_display.aspx?id=111262

Washington, DC

https://dcist.com/story/19/10/09/this-columbus-day-d-c-will-celebrate-indigenous-peoples-da

y-instead/

Virginia Tech

https://www.wvtf.org/post/vt-recognize-indigenous-peoples-day

Richmond

https://wtop.com/virginia/2019/10/virginia-capital-to-recognize-indigenous-peoples-day/amp/