The Academic Task Force (ACTF) is a group of people who want to develop an environment that both fosters work and the observation of holidays in the district. The ACTF was founded in March of 2023 to examine the school calendar. It started out as an idea that came up during a school committee meeting and later branched out into a group of representatives dedicated to the cause.
The ACTF’s main mission is to follow the state mandates while also listening to the community about cultural belonging and identity. There are 180 school days a calendar year and school cannot go beyond June 30 according to state mandates.
All of the representative groups who are involved in this community driven organization. Photo courtesy of the Wellesley Public Schools website.
School Committee Member Linda Chow chairs the task force and Niki Ofenloch is the vice chair of the organization. Along with them, there are also 25 other representatives that consist of students, parents, educators, the superintendent and his colleagues.
The ACTF sent out a survey regarding the holiday changes to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and faculty and staff about 3 months ago.
“Lots of people talked about how good they felt that the calendar could be more inclusive for all sorts of families who celebrate differently,” said Sharon Gray, Coordinator for Community Engagement.
Since 1980, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, and Good Friday have always been celebrated at the high school. This year, with the help of the ACTF, there are three new additions: Eid al-Fitr, Diwali and Lunar New Year.
These changes may be short-lived due to the addition of several new proposal ideas that work with the holidays and in the interest of the schools and the people. On October 24, the task force took a vote; Fourteen of the eighteen representatives were in favor of a proposal that would keep Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as holidays, with the additions of Lunar New Year, Eid-al-Fitr or Eid-al-Adha. Good Friday and Diwali would be removed.
This wasn’t the only proposal on the table. Another idea suggested not adding or subtracting holidays from the school calendar. Instead, a rotational system would be established. Three of the six holidays would be observed one year and then the following year, they would switch out those holidays with the ones that weren’t previously observed. This would address both the need for more school days and the respect for those who observe these holidays.
