Chelsea elementary schools will close on Juneteenth in last-minute decision
CHELSEA - It's an abrupt turnaround for Chelsea Schools. As of this morning, elementary students were going to be in class on Juneteenth, but now the district is changing course.
In November, a water main break at the Mary Burke Elementary complex forced students to miss two days of education. Inside that building, there are four different elementary schools. By state law, those students need to make up those days. Representatives for Chelsea Schools say they gave the teacher's union a survey with three holidays and an extra summer day. The teachers were told to pick two. School reps say the holidays were Memorial Day, Good Friday and Juneteenth. The district says the teachers overwhelmingly chose Juneteenth and the extra summer day.
"I think the decision was made last year in November, but with the holidays and hustle and bustle of life, folks didn't think about that until parents got the info or text as a reminder," says Joan Cromwell, president of Chelsea Black Community, an organization putting on a large Juneteenth celebration at Washington Park in Chelsea.
Cromwell had no idea the students would be in class until we spoke with her. That's when she contacted the district. A large portion of their celebration is geared toward younger children, and the group is expecting them there that day. All of Chelsea's middle and high school students were always going to be off for Juneteenth.
"I made several calls, and had conversations, painful conversations, just reflecting on what that means and the ripple effect of a federal holiday being undermined," says Cromwell, "Just felt like a slap in the face today."
She says the district has always been a close ally promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
"That is why it felt so surprising," she says.
At least two parents we spoke with say they were going to hold their children out of school anyway.
"Every Martin Luther King Day in January we stayed home until it became a legal holiday. That's what it felt like when parents were calling me to say, 'I am not sending my kid to school that day,'" explains Cromwell.
Friday afternoon, Chelsea schools changed plans and began telling teachers and parents that school will be closed. The day will be made up by an early release day on Thursday. In a statement, they said they regret making Juneteenth on option in the survey. Cromwell is glad this was caught sooner than later.
"That would have been a very unfortunate day Monday, and the ripple effect after Monday," says Cromwell, "I would have been wondering where are they? Not knowing that this was actually planned."
