At their recent regular meeting on Wednesday, June 21, the New Paltz Central School District Board of Education passed a resolution to designate the school holiday that falls on the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Curriculum will be developed for all New Paltz schools to support the new focus, with the board’s intention that the period of time between Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Thanksgiving Day be used “as an opportunity to honor and respect indigenous peoples and their contributions to this region and the Americas, in an effort to build a more aware, inclusive and knowledgeable school community.”

The resolution passed by a vote of 6-0. Board member Sophia Skiles was not in attendance, but because it was she who initiated the process to change the holiday last December, a written statement by her in support of the resolution was entered into the record and read aloud at the meeting by trustee Steve Greenfield.