SCHOOLS: Eighth Grade Trip to Washington D. C. Approved After Concerns Over Religious Holiday Addressed

The School Committee unanimously approved the annual eighth grade trip to Washington D. C. after concerns raised about a conflict with a religious holiday were resolved. Approval of the trip was delayed a couple weeks when the sponsoring teacher of the trip was unable to attend a meeting in early October and the stand-in teacher lacked familiarity with the trip to answer questions about special food issues for those Jewish students observing Passover.

At the Oct. 23 meeting, the sponsoring teacher Adam Snodgrass was present to discuss the issue and tell School Committee members that teachers were enthusiastic about the trip and were ready to move forward with planning. When the issue of the trip's conflict with Passover observance arose, School Committee members indicated options to avoid the conflict were to move the date of the trip or shorten the trip.

School Committee member Leslie Lathrop noted that if nothing changed, it would be difficult for a Jewish child to go on the trip. After some discussion, it was pointed out that the Passover observance lasted for a week and the main issue was the special foods eaten during the observance. Snodgrass said he could accommodate food issues by going to restaurants that served Passover meals or by ordering box lunches which contain foods eaten during the observance of Passover.

School Committee members seemed satisfied that issues surrounding the conflict with Passover could be resolved without rescheduling and unanimously approved he trip.