It’s never pleasant when October is already decked out in green and red, even though Halloween hasn’t passed and Thanksgiving didn’t even get a chance to utter its turkey gobble. Come New Years, decor has been swapped for the pinks of Valentine’s Day, even though Christmas hasn’t arrived for some of us. 

My family is Orthodox Christian, meaning we celebrate Christmas in the first week of January. Christmas is one of the most important holidays to the religion. Yet, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) doesn’t give students the day off to celebrate it. Instead, I often have to make the choice between missing important schoolwork, something that has become increasingly harder as I grow older and my classes becoming more rigorous, or spending an important religious day with my family. 

Last year, winter break was from Dec.18-Jan.8. It was the same three weeks, but allowed me to spend Christmas with family, not with textbooks. It was dumb calendar luck that pushed winter break back, not an earnest effort on LAUSD to include Orthodox families in their representation, even though the district is aware of the religious holiday, per their own Calendar of Commemorative Dates. 

This year, winter break is from Dec. 16-Jan. 6. Christmas Eve will be spent not by our Christmas tree, but rather holed up in my room pouring over homework assignments from the first day of my second semester. Or, at best, on the couch only partially paying attention to my grandmother over the phone. Come the next day, I’ll spend Christmas morning in a classroom instead of opening presents with my family. 

I could take the day off. Then, I’ll miss out on instructions from my four Advanced Placement classes, which are rigorous and have deadlines to their exams. Those classes, especially in the weeks leading up to the second semester, should not be missed. 

I have to make this decision, even though LAUSD could very well give us the day off. My other side of the family is Jewish, for them, LAUSD strikes academic days from the calendar. In doing so, LAUSD allows Jewish students and employees to spend time with their families on holidays like Rosh Hashanah, which took place on a Thursday this year. LAUSD marks them as unassigned days, not officially designated for religious purposes, but many take the opportunity to acknowledge the according holidays. 

LAUSD also provides the day off on April 24 for Genocide Remembrance Day, a state holiday, for the thousands of slaughtered Armenians – including some of my own family – to be remembered and mourned. It’s an important day for the Armenian people, to acknowledge our sorrows, but why is it just our sorrows that should be acknowledged?

The district should do better. While it is good that the district provides unassigned days that match up with religious days for certain students, it needs to do better. It would not be hard to move two days of winter break for Orthodox students to spend time with their families. Students shouldn’t have to spend important holidays deciding between their studies and spending time with their families.