The Sag Harbor School Board is expected to vote Monday on a 2021-22 school calendar that for the first time will include Indigenous People's Day in addition to Columbus Day. Juneteenth will also be officially added to the school calendar, as New York State has designated it an official holiday.
With regard to the debate over whether Columbus Day should be dropped in favor of Indigenous People's Day -- a change that has been implemented in other places, including the Southampton School District -- Jeff Nichols, Sag Harbor's superintendent, has recommended that Columbus Day remain in place and that a new school holiday, Indigenous People's Day, be added the day before Thanksgiving.
Both holidays, along with Juneteenth, which marks the day that the last enslaved Black people were freed in 1865, will be observed with a school closure and lots of education around them, Mr. Nichols said.
Leading up to Monday's meeting, a monthslong process included an in-depth presentation and spirited conversations led by a committee made up of students and adults within the school district. At the heart of the issue is the widespread belief that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492 -- which is actually false -- and the fact that Indigenous people have historically faced, and still face, persecution stemming from the colonization of their lands by Europeans centuries ago.
Many students favor replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day, according to a survey that the committee conducted. The district also received more than 40 letters in support of preserving the current holiday, though it was noted during a March 1 board meeting that many of the letters were from people affiliated with Italian-American groups in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and even the Midwest.
The school board, which hears community comments at the beginning and end of each of its public sessions, will hold its virtual meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. A link will be available on the school district's website, sagharborschools.org.