Posted on 06/06/2026 1:10:27 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement
Families in a New Jersey school district were left outraged after a cafeteria menu distributed for June displayed a watermelon graphic on Juneteenth — prompting school officials to condemn the image as racially offensive and demand immediate action from the district’s food-service contractor.
Montclair Public Schools said the image appeared on a June cafeteria menu prepared by food-service provider Sodexo and sparked complaints from students, families, staff and community members.
Superintendent Ruth Turner said those who saw the menu were “hurt, disappointed, and offended” by the graphic’s appearance alongside the June 19 holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I’m from Brooklyn.
Never Jersey.
My parents taught me a lot about the history of Galveston.
Jean Lafitte used it as a haven for his band of pirates.
This ping list is for the other articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. This can occasionally be a fairly high volume list. Articles pinged to the Another Reason to Homeschool List will be given the keyword of ARTH. (If I remember. If I forget, please feel free to add it yourself)
The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.
Don’t we conservatives have a stake in this? Don’t we term environmentalists with ulterior, anarchistic motives as “watermelons”? Green on the outside, red on the inside. Inspired by the phrase “Oreo cookies”?
They serve pork among other things on the menu. Should Muslims attend, the solution is not to order it. Order the salmon and sit at the no pork table with their compadres. Seems they do not want anyone else ordering the pork.
oops, wrong thread on 65
Never could understand watermelon being anything racist. It’s just good eating for thos who like it. Been that way for a long time.
The US Naval Academy offered up fried chicken, collards and watermelon in celebration of MLK day.
If our government does this, then it must be ok?
There’s nothing they could’ve done to avoid drama.
No graphic: Silently suppressing the important date.
Any graphic: Racist.
Summer School. Gotta feed the Munchkins catching up or moving ahead.
I do not know. I searched the web looking for Juneteenth celebration poster that caused controversy due to watermelon in it, and that is what I got.
I think that glob of pasta on his shirt would still be okay to eat.....
I saw something that said watermelon is good when you grill it.
That probably offends someone somewhere , but I can’t keep up.
“sparked complaints from students, families, staff and community members.”
Why do I suspect maybe 1 person “complained.”
School well into June is NOT due to snow days.
https://montclairlocal.news/2025/05/see-montclair-public-schools-2025-26-calendar/
The Montclair Board of Education has approved a 2025-26 school calendar that provides days off on most of the holidays that the district previously has but extends the academic year longer into June than is usual.
The extension of the school year is because none of those holidays fall on weekends as had happened in previous academic years, school officials said.
The first day of school for students is Sept. 4 and the last day of school is June 25, which is an abbreviated day for students and staff.
The calendar:
Sept. 1 – Labor Day, district closed
Sept. 2 – Staff Convocation
Sept. 3 – District professional development, building based professional development
Sept. 4 – First day of school for students
Sept. 23 – Rosh Hashana (first day) district closed
Sept. 24 – Rosh Hashana (second day) district open
Oct. 2 – Yom Kippur, district closed
Oct. 13 – Indigenous People’s Day/professional development schools closed for students
Oct. 20 – Diwali, district closed
Oct. 22 – Evening parent-teacher conferences, 6-12 Only/PD elementary, abbreviated day
Oct. 23 – Afternoon parent-teacher conferences, 6-12 only/PD elementary, abbreviated day
Nov. 4 – Election Day, professional development, schools closed
Nov. 6, 7 – NJEA Convention, district closed
Nov. 26 – Abbreviated day
Nov. 27, 28 – Thanksgiving, district closed
Dec. 3 – Evening parent-teacher conferences – elementary only/professional development 6-12, abbreviated day
Dec. 4 – Afternoon parent-teacher conferences – elementary only/PD 6-12 abbreviated day
Dec. 23 – District closed, after abbreviated day
Dec. 24, 25 – Christmas, district closed
Dec. 26-31 – Winter recess, schools closed
Jan. 1 – New Year’s Day, district closed
Jan. 2 – District closed
Jan. 5 – District reopens
Jan. 19 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, district closed
Jan. 22 – Curriculum meetings, abbreviated day
Feb. 16 – President’s Day, district closed
Feb. 17 – Lunar New Year, district closed
March 20 – Eid al-Fitr, district closed
March 25 – K-12 evening parent-teacher conferences, abbreviated day
March 26 – K-12 parent teacher conferences, abbreviated day
March 30, 31 Spring recess, schools closed
April 1, 2 – Spring recess, schools closed
April 3 – Good Friday, district closed
April 24 – Professional Development, abbreviated day
May 14 – Curriculum meetings, abbreviated day
May 25 – Memorial Day, district closed
June 2 – Election Day, staff professional development, schools closed
June 19 – Juneteenth, district closed
June 24 – Abbreviated day for students and staff
June 25 – Abbreviated day and last day for students and staff
The calendar shows 182 days of school for students. This meets the state-required 180 days of school and allows for two emergency/snow days.
My grammar school years are long behind and when school lasted till mid June it was because of snow days.
“And the blacks in NJ were never slaves to begin with.”
Actually, not counting the border states, New Jersey was one of the last northern states to abolish slavery.
Who doesn’t like good summer watermelons
So stupid
It’s maybe favorite food in summer
Maybe they should have used fried chicken instead? /sarc
Not even during the Lunar New Year?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.