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 

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