Medford school officials to re-examine time-off protocols, religious days policies

The Medford School Committee in 2020 changed its policy in regards to how the public schools acknowledge religious holidays in order to be more inclusive. And that decision has backfired.

On April 3, all Medford schools were cancelled following a decision by Superintendent Dr. Suzanne B. Galusi “due to a districtwide staff shortage.”

In a released statement on March 31, the superintendent stated that “given the amount of reported absences across schools and departments, and the continued rate of which staff absences are being submitted, there will not be enough staff in any school building to safely and effectively support teaching, learning, and building operations for students.”

In an exclusive interview with Gotta Know Medford, Galusi reinforced that meetings were held with school and union leaders across the different departments in order to make sure schools were covered on Good Friday, April 3.

Galusi said when the school calendar was being developed last spring for the current academic year, with the addition of two professional development days added following contract negotiations with the Medford Teachers Association (MTA), administrators saw an anomaly coming.

“We noticed that a lot of the religious holidays were going to fall on school days,” Galusi said. “And that’s going to happen next year, too.”

Galusi said she felt school leaders were on the same page about the holiday coverage and that there was a plan in place to deal with the additional absences on these days.

The superintendent said around March 4, only 25 staffers had requested taking April 3 off as a religious day, which is an option for employees of the school system. She said the plan was to hire 30 substitutes for coverage.

“Around March 10, things started to explode,” Galusi said. “We had frequent conversations with school leaders and we had contingency plans, but when mid-March hit, we knew those plans were no longer viable.”

That’s when staffers started putting in for time off. Galusi declined to say how many people, but a source in the School Department said the final number was 145 and would have likely been more had the day not been cancelled.

Galusi’s message to families alluded to the issue, saying that following discussions with union leaders “absence totals continued to climb at an even higher rate, prompting our message to the MPS community last Friday.”

On April 2, the Medford Teachers Association and Medford Paraprofessionals Association put out a joint statement on Facebook, refuting “any suggested connection between Superintendent Galusi’s meeting with union leadership and the rate of reported absences on this coming Friday (April 3, 2026).”

The statement went on to say that the unions supported the rights of their members to use their “individual paid time off and exercise no influence on their choice of when to use it. The MTA and MPA also affirm that our members have the right to observe their faith without shame or implication.”

The statement went on to say that union leaders had raised this issue with School Committee officials during negotiations. The statement said the union is looking “forward to working with the district to ensure next year’s calendar better reflects our community.”

When asked about the statement, Galusi said the statement was “fair” and declined further comment.

How it all came about

Online, residents took to social media to ask what all the hubbub was about and why Good Friday wasn’t already on the school calendar as a day off. Some stated other school districts already take the day off while others, such as Malden, have an early dismissal.

Several years ago, Malden teachers were also told they had to work on Good Friday. A threatened lawsuit led to the half-day compromise.

“Many school districts don’t acknowledge religious holidays at all,” Galusi said. “School is open unless it’s a vacation week.”

There is currently no official state policy surrounding when schools close for religious holidays. Each of the state’s 404 school districts sets its own calendar, which may include not only religious holidays, but cultural holidays such as Lunar New Year.

Brookline, Hopkinton, and Wayland officially recognize Lunar New Year as a school holiday.

Some districts, however, excuse absences for students and staff. The Malden Public School’s approved 2026–27 calendar states that, “Although the schools are open, excused absence is available in observance of religious holidays.”

In order to be more inclusive in its school calendar, the Medford School Committee voted on a policy to include holidays representing the city’s three predominant religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The holidays of Yom Kippur (the Jewish “Day of Atonement”), Eid al-Fitr (the Muslim “Festival of Breaking the Fast”) and Christmas (the Christian festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ) were chosen.

“There were people who were upset because Christmas is already a federal holiday and it shouldn’t count as the Christian holiday,” Galusi said. “Plus it falls on our winter vacation week. A lot of people felt that Good Friday should be the Christian holiday.”

But that wasn’t the case. Leading to the April 3 shutdown.

What’s next?

First, the missed day will be added to the end of the school year, like the district’s snow days. The new June schedule will look like this:

• Monday, June 22 - Full Day of School

• Tuesday, June 23 - Full Day of School

• Wednesday, June 24 - Early Release Day

• Thursday, June 25 - Early Release Day

• Friday, June 26 - Roberts Elementary School Only Early Release Day (Norovirus Make-Up Day)

Galusi said the administration will be working with the School Committee to review all the policies and protocols around religious holidays. That might mean updating the already set 2026-27 school calendar.

But that doesn’t bother Galusi, who said it’s important to get ahead of the upcoming academic year.

“We’re going to look at the School Committee policy and then have a conversation with the union leadership,” Galusi said. “We’re going to be very intentional moving forward to ensure our practices and policies support our districtwide core values of belonging.”