Rosh Hashanah Causes Shorter First Week Of School Throughout Region
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Many kids in the region will have a shorter than normal first week back to school due to where the Jewish New Year falls.
For the nearly 8,000 kids in the Lower Merion School District, traditionally the first day of the school year is the Tuesday after Labor day.
Doug Young is the director of communications for the school district. He says kids will be back in class on Tuesday, September 3rd and the following day, then they will be off for the rest of week because Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown on Wednesday the 4th.
"We try to be sensitive to the community here because that does dictate some of our scheduling," Young said.
The Bensalem and Cherry Hill School Districts mirror that schedule. Students in the Upper Darby school district do not have days off for the Jewish holiday. School starts there on September 3rd and go through the week.
The first day of the new school year was originally planned for Monday, September 9th for students in the Philadelphia School District, but that is being threatened now due to lack of city funding (see related story). Kids could get an extended summer vacation if a plan isn't worked out.
