Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Approval of school calendars for the next three years was the first action item on the agenda for the regular meeting of the Jefferson County School Board on Monday, March 13. Before that, the agenda allowed time for public comments on agenda items, and the sign-up list for a turn at the microphone was long.
The issue was Emancipation Day. For perhaps around two decades, the third Monday in May has been a school holiday in Jefferson County, in recognition of May 20, 1865, when Union Brigadier General Edward McCook held a ceremony announcing President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, formally freeing slaves in Florida.
The proposed Jefferson County school calendars for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 did not indicate Florida's Emancipation Day as a school holiday, and many members of the public wanted to know why and how it had been removed. Further, they wanted it put back.
Jacqueline Seabrooks stepped to the podium first and yielded her three minutes of time to Rev. O. J. Sloan.
“For those of us in the audience who know about how hard the fight was to actually get this holiday on the calendar in this district, it would be something to see it taken away,” Sloan said. “Somewhere around 1950, a group here in the county started these celebrations for the twentieth of May. My grandparents were educators, and my grandfather was a history buff, so he made sure we knew about our history and things of this nature, and it seems that our history has always been pushable. We always talk about bridging the gap, bridging the racial divide in our community. There's still people here that want to say there's not one. There definitely is. It's not as prevalent as it used to be, but I think that if we educate people more on some of these holidays and why we have these holidays, things would be a little bit smoother… If people understand that, then I think we can have some more togetherness.”
Charles Parrish came to the podium next, who also remembered when, some twenty years ago, the local school holiday recognizing the twentieth of May was established. “All of you up there now were not on the board at this time, and it was the understanding that the school board in Jefferson County would allow our students to be out on that third Monday in May, and it was a policy set at that time,” he said. “I suggest that you keep it as it is because the twentieth of May is the day the black people in this county were freed from slavery, and that's a part of American history.”
Essie Norton, during her turn to address the school board members, said “This is a very important day for African-Americans, and so we hope that it is also important for other community people, whether you are a person of color, or whether you are white or Hispanic. Whatever you are, you know, it's an important part of history. What I understand is that the day was set aside for our kids to participate in any activities or whatever was going on in the community to be educated on what the twentieth of May means to Floridians. And so, to take that off the calendar without the consideration of the community, I just think that's a travesty... I would request that you reconsider it and have our kids celebrate that day with community people, with community leaders, whatever we have set up.”
When Ann Herring took her turn, she emphasized that “Juneteenth is relative to Texas. May 20th is relative to Florida. So there really needs to be some consideration of how the people in this community feel.”
Gwenith Parrish next pointed out that “Most of the plantations were in North Florida. That in essence really impacts Jefferson County, because May 20th was the celebration for freedom, and that ties into so many different things, not just for black students but for all students. We're talking about American history. We're talking about the culture that exists in the South, and you can't get away from it. That's not a bad thing, but we need to be more inclusive. This is part of American history.”
John Nelson further emphasized, “May 20th is a very significant date in Florida's history,” and added additional historical background on President Lincoln's actions to unite the nation and enforce his Emancipation Proclamation.
Dr. Natalie King-Pedroso commented also, saying, “It is our responsibility to accurately promote and preserve the stories that are associated with our state's heritage for all Floridians and for all residents of Jefferson County, especially our children. In a county where almost a third of its inhabitants are linked to the descendant community, let the record reflect that we gathered here today with dignity to support the day of our ancestors' hopes and dreams for freedom, May 20th, 1865, from the past to the present. Board members, please allow us to present your educators in this county with more information about Florida's Emancipation Day. This is our heritage, this is Florida's heritage, and it is worth preserving.”
King-Pedroso also cited a letter by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that was presented at the 2021 Journey to Emancipation Conference, in which he thanked “the historians, educators, archivists and political leaders for your dedication to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and supporting education. Your expertise is vital to citizens and communities of our great state.”
Next to speak during the public comments portion of the board meeting was Ola Syliva Lamar Sheffield, who said, “As a product of this soil, it is atrocious to me, to say the least, that we would consider not acknowledging the twentieth of May, Emancipation Day, when people who look like me were set free back in the day. Juneteenth, I have nothing against it at all. The federal holiday, yay. But again, for relevance, and for education for the state of Florida, for this decision for Jefferson County, please continue to acknowledge the twentieth of May as the date when slaves were set free here in the peninsular state of Florida... Let our goal be to go forward and educate anyone who has an ear to hear why we are so adamant and emphatic that the twentieth of May be celebrated here.”
Althera Johnson, the last member of the public to provide comments, noted that “Tallahassee is doing [Emancipation Day] big now, but prior to Tallahassee doing it big, Monticello was doing it big. We started this. Do not take that away. Leave it there, please, if you really care about the kids and their learning. It's important to know where you come from.”
As the board prepared to discuss the matter and vote, Superintendent Eydie Tricquet explained how the proposed calendars had been developed. She had requested that a calendar committee be formed, with an administrator, support staff, custodial staff and teachers at Jefferson County K-12. They took last year's calendar and compared it with school calendars from surrounding districts during their process. They submitted six calendars, two for each of the coming three years. An email was sent out to the roughly 130 staff members for them to vote on the calendars, with a reminder email sent a week and a half after the initial emailing. Supervisors were also contacted to make sure that their teams were aware of the email.
“We felt that we gave everybody an opportunity to vote,” Tricquet said. “We had 42 responses, and the calendars that I presented to you [the board] were the ones that were voted for by 60 percent of the people who voted.”
Tricquet pointed out that June 19, or Juneteenth, had in recent years become a federal holiday that people were observing, including on other school system calendars. Regarding the two calendars presented to staff for voting, one had May 20 as a holiday and the other did not, allowing instead for observance of Juneteenth.
District 4 Board Member Bill Brumfield then said, “I don't think we should give up this holiday for the kids.”
District 2 Board Member Willie Ann Dickey said that she agreed with Brumfield, adding that she had gotten calls from people who were very upset.
District 3 Board Member Brenda Wyrick said she had served on calendar committees in the past and noted that a process had been followed. “If the calendar goes through with that as a day that we are in school,” she wondered aloud, “could it be a presentation day, where the community all comes together to have a day at school to educate our students?”
Brumfield then said, “If I remember correctly, the board voted for this, to approve this as a holiday many years ago, and I can't see where the school has the right to go in and override the school board.”
District 1 Board Member and Chair Gladys Rowan-Watson then shared, “When I first saw that May the 20th was disappearing from the calendar, I was sad, a little bit mad, and a little bit hurt that this was being taken off without concern for the whole community... I think we ought to look at reworking it. ...I'm asking for this for the children.”
District 5 Board Member Mags Flynt was not in attendance.
The board then voted 4 to 0 to send the proposed calendars back to the school with instructions to rework them to include Florida's Emancipation Day as a school holiday in Jefferson County.
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