14 | MARCH 21 • 2024
J
N
A
West Michigan cou-
ple, both attorneys,
and their children
have reached a landmark set-
tlement with Portage Public
Schools that enables Jewish
students to observe religious
holidays without missing out on
important school events.
Saraphoena Austin Koffron
and Mike Koffron, owners of
Austin+Koffron in Kalamazoo,
which specializes in family law,
have three children, Blue, 25,
Minaleah, 19, and a younger
child now in fourth grade
whom they prefer not to name.
The school system over
a year ago announced that
Minaleah’s graduation from
Portage Northern High School
was scheduled for a Friday
night; it was also the festival
of Shavuot. Though the date
was still four months out, the
district refused to consider
changing it, and Minaleah, now
a freshman at Michigan State,
missed it.
Over the years, Minaleah
and her siblings missed many
school events, including annual
dances, fifth-grade field trips to
the middle school and orchestra
competitions because they were
scheduled on Friday nights or
Jewish holidays, despite their
parents’ efforts to get the dates
changed. Minaleah’s graduation
was the final straw.
The lawsuit, listing as plain-
tiffs Mike Koffron, Minaleah
Koffron and her younger broth-
er, alleged that the school sys-
tem and the named defendants
(school administrators) main-
tained practices that denied
Jewish students their right to
an equal educational opportu-
nity under the Elliott-Larsen
Civil Rights Act of 1976 and
their right, under the Michigan
Constitution, to freely exercise
their religion without coercive
pressure. The lawsuit alleged
a systemic failure within the
school system to adhere to its
own nondiscrimination policy.
The Koffrons were not
requesting special treatment,
said Saraphoena. Neither were
they seeking punitive damages,
although the settlement does
provide payment for their
expenses and fees as attorneys.
“We were simply insisting
that the school district comply
with Michigan law,
” she said.
Under the terms of the con-
sent judgment, approved by the
Hon. Curtis J. Bell of the Ninth
Circuit Court for Kalamazoo
County on March 8, the school
system agreed to maintain an
annual district-wide holiday
calendar that provides notice
of and recognizes religious
minority holidays. The district
will not schedule major events,
including school dances, grad-
uations, tryouts, open houses
and examinations, on Jewish
holidays or Shabbat. The agree-
ment also provides a means
to include holidays of other
minority religions.
The Koffrons both grew up
in Southeast Michigan and
graduated from Michigan State
University and Wayne State
University Law School. They
were married at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek, where
Saraphoena was active with the
Sisterhood, and lived in Berkley
and Oak Park for many years.
Their older children attended
Hillel Day School until the
family moved to the Kalamazoo
area. Saraphoena describes
the family as “observant
Conservative.
”
While the Jewish population
of Kalamazoo is relatively small,
the community supports a
Reform temple, a Conservative
synagogue and a Chabad center.
Members of the community
remember similar problems
with school calendars going
back to the 1950s and 1960s,
Saraphoena said.
The Koffrons started their
effort to bring about a policy
change more than a decade ago.
“There was lots of back and
forth,
” Saraphoena said. “We
tried to give them the benefit
of the doubt; maybe they didn’t
understand, maybe we were
reaching out to the wrong
people.
“It was a monumental task.
Their budget was over $100
million, and they had litigation
insurance,
” she said. “We filed
18 depositions.
”
SETTLEMENT REACHED
On March 6, Portage Public
Schools announced the
settlement. The district agreed
to:
• Maintain an annual district-
wide religious holiday
calendar that provides notice
of, and recognizes, religious
minority holidays
• Provide religious sensitivity
training to staff
• Avoid Jewish holidays and
Shabbat when scheduling
major events
• Provide an avenue to include
specific religious holidays
of other minority religions,
such as Islamic holidays and
Hindu holidays
Landmark
Settlement
Lawsuit ends exclusion of
Jewish students from school
events in Portage school district.
BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OUR COMMUNITY
Minaleah Koffron
at the March
for Israel in
Washington, D.C.