OUR COMMUNITY
12 | SEPTEMBER 29 • 2022
M
ichigan Count Day falling on
Oct. 5 — Yom Kippur — has
become a point of contention
this year for some in the Jewish commu-
nity. While some view the timing of the
holiest day on the Jewish calendar falling
on the day when school administrators
encourage perfect attendance to leverage
maximum per-pupil funding as nothing
more than a bureaucratic oversight, others
see it as insensitive in an age when soci-
ety continues to stress representation and
inclusion.
Count Day, part of the Michigan School
Aid Act of 1979, is when all public schools
in Michigan tally the number of students
attending their schools. This information
translates into state funding. The state’s
K-12 budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23
is the largest education budget in Michigan
history, with a historic investment of $9,150
per student.
Districts with significant Jewish stu-
dent and faculty percentages filed for
an advance waiver with the state and
moved Count Day to Oct. 7. They include
Bloomfield Hills Schools, West Bloomfield,
Walled Lake and Berkeley public schools.
Additionally, a second Count Day is slated
for Feb. 8, 2023.
But not showing up on Oct. 5 does not
penalize the student or their school district
from receiving this funding.
DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION STATEMENT
On Aug. 25, the Michigan State
Department of Education released a memo
to the state’s school district superintendents
and public-school academy directors that
stated:
“This year’s fall pupil membership count
day coincides with a religious holiday that
may affect the abil-
ity for some students to be in atten-
dance. To be counted in the district’s mem-
bership, if a student is absent on Count
Day and that absence is excused, the pupil
has 30 calendar days to return and attend
all scheduled classes. Similarly, to be count-
ed in the district’s membership, if a student
is absent and that absence is unexcused
on Count Day, the student has 10 school
days to return and attend all scheduled
classes. For a district that is not in session
on Count Day due to conditions not within
the control of school authorities, such as
the date on which the religious holiday
Yom Kippur falls this year, with the approv-
al of the state superintendent, the immedi-
ately following day on which the district is
in session will become the count day.
”
It continued: “
A district may request an
alternate Count Day using the appropriate
application form, per state law, and approv-
al will be granted provided the application
satisfies the requirements for an alternate
Count Day in law.
”
GOVERNMENT VOICES
This memo acknowledging the religious
conflicts that Count Day may
be causing for Michigan’s
Jewish community is in part
due to efforts of State Sen.
Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield)
and his colleague State
Rep. Samantha Steckloff
(D-Farmington Hills), two of
only three Jewish members of
the Michigan State Legislature.
While Moss commended the Michigan
DOE’s statement, he said there is a long
way to go for the state to recognize the
needs of its religious minorities.
“
As members of the Jewish community,
you realize when people schedule
things or require things of you over our
religious holidays, it’s always on us to find
a way to navigate around it,
” Moss said. “In
this specific example, the date (of the first
Wednesday in October) is enshrined into
law. We worked with the Department of
Education to seek some remedies.
“I am the only Jewish person in the State
Senate,
” he added, “and I speak on behalf
of my community alone. I am working to
get my colleagues to better understand the
cultural sensitivity on items like this, but it
has been incredibly difficult. For this year, I
think we found a good solution. Going for-
ward, we will have to figure it out for future
years, whether that means
changing the language of the
law or moving Count Day to
another time of the year.
”
Noah Arbit of West
Bloomfield, who is running for
State House representative in
the new 20th House District,
said as someone who, if elected, would
represent municipalities with the largest
Jewish population in the state, this issue
deserves attention. Arbit said that closing
the school and moving Count Day a few
days after Yom Kippur would lessen the
“administrative headache” of an excess of
excused absences.
“It would not be a heavy lift to change
the language in the law to say that if Count
Day occurred on Yom Kippur, that the day
could be moved up two days on the school
calendar to allow for Jews to observe their
holiest holiday and allow travel time for
those going out of town to be with family,
”
Arbit said. “Our district has a diverse
population where all should be respected
Michigan’s “Count Day” falls
on Yom Kippur this year.
A Point of
Contention
STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
State Sen.
Jeremy
Moss
Noah Arbit
continued on page 14