Chesterfield County Public Schools approved the calendar for the 2027–28 school year during its meeting earlier this month. And while it includes holidays for periods covering Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah, the finalized calendar did not add Diwali.
That means Suchit Gandhi will have to wait to realize his vision of having CCPS recognize Diwali, the “Festival of Lights” celebrated by religious faiths primarily within the Indian diaspora — including Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism.
“We’re disappointed as a community,” said Gandhi, who has a daughter entering sixth grade at Tomahawk Creek Middle School. “I found that I’m kind of not sure what the process is to move the needle. … From our perspective, it just becomes a black-box process.”…