Italian American Association officer disappointed with district's choice, RPS says it wasn't about politics
ROCKFORD — Rockford Public Schools plans to be open on Columbus Day this year, swapping the traditional annual day off for the state’s newly designated Election Day holiday on Nov. 3.
Government entities and schools across the state are adjusting their work and attendance calendars after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the legislation on June 16.
Some schools are tacking an extra day onto the end of the school year. Some still are trying to figure out how to absorb the additional day off.
Efforts to make Election Day a national holiday have been unsuccessful thus far, but several states have established state holidays for Nov. 3. In Virginia, for example, Election Day is in and Lee-Jackson Day, a holiday honoring Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, is out.
Illinois’ new law adds the Election Day holiday for all governments and public schools except election offices but does not remove an already existing holiday. That decision has been left to local officials.
The Rockford School Board planned to vote on the recommendation to swap the district’s Columbus Day paid holiday for Election Day this year at its meeting Tuesday night. Columbus Day was to be observed Oct. 12.
School officials worked with the district’s seven labor unions to come up with the plan. Another option was to add a day in June.
Columbus Day has been under fire in recent years, along with statues honoring Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer credited with discovering America. Native Americans in the U.S. have long protested the celebration of a man who has come to symbolize the violent colonization of their home and.
Rockford school leaders said the decision was not based on the politics surrounding Columbus.
Frank Perrecone, a Rockford lawyer and member of the board of the Greater Rockford Italian American Association, said he was disappointed that Rockford Public Schools chose the Columbus Day holiday as the one to go this year.
"I am disappointed but not surprised," Perrecone said. "The legacy of Christopher Columbus has been under attack, sometimes with revisionist history. Columbus was not a perfect man. Neither was George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, who both owned slaves. Comparing a 15th century man to 21st century values to erase a holiday celebrating his important discoveries and accomplishments is shortsighted and misguided."
Several other school districts and government agencies are still sorting out how to handle the new holiday.
The Freeport School District does not have a plan for adjusting its 2020-2021 school calendar.
"We are going to present a whole new calendar to our board this month that pushes the first day for students back a few days and adds a day to the end of the year to make up for the new holiday," Belvidere Superintendent Dan Woestman said in an email this week. "Details are still being worked out."
The Harlem School District is in a similar position.
"We aren't making a recommendation yet because we are still discussing the use of remote learning planning days and possible other calendar changes," said Jason Blume, Harlem’s director of stakeholder engagement. "I think our goal is to bring a revised calendar to the board for approval at our first August meeting."
Rock Valley College plans to discuss the matter at an Aug. 10 committee meeting.
The city of Rockford isn’t sure how it’s going to address the new holiday, either.
Corina Curry: ccurry@rrstar.com; @corinacurry
The Link LonkJuly 15, 2020 at 12:25AM
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Rockford schools to swap Columbus Day holiday for Election Day - Rockford Register Star
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