After two years, Good Friday, again, will be a day off for students in tri-town schools – at least for the next school year.

Members of the Joint School Committee voted on Thursday night to reinstate Good Friday as a no-school day for the 2016-2017 school year, in part because that day falls before school vacation in April 2017.

Prior to the vote, Superintendent Doug White advised the committee to designate next year's Good Friday a day off, not for religious reasons, but due to its location before April break. However, Mattapoisett School Committee member Jim Higgins argued that the tradition of having Good Friday off should continue to accommodate local families.

"It's a tradition that has gone back a long time. Other communities with different religious make-ups have other holidays off," Higgins said.

During the past two years when Good Friday was a school day, district schools have experienced high rates of absenteeism among students and teachers, some committee members said.

Principals at the meeting reported teacher absences for this year's Good Friday, which, incidentally, was the day after this meeting. Expected teacher absences, they said, were three for Sippican School; seven for Rochester Memorial School; 14 for both Old Hammondtown and Center Schools; three for ORR Junior High; and one for ORR High School.

"When you have schools with fourteen staff out this year – not next year – it's sending a message to us. We want to justify the day before vacation, but I think our community is trying to tell us something and we should take that into consideration," said Winters, who also said that Massachusetts Department of Education rules allow communities to make reasonable accommodations, including scheduled days off, for religious observances.

Old Rochester Regional High School Principal Mike Devoll also weighed in, noting constraints placed on teachers when fewer students are in class on Good Friday. Last year, 20 percent of students did not come to school.

"The directive and narrative are: don't assign a test, don't assign a quiz, don't take a field trip, don't, don't, don't. What's the value in that?" he said.

Not everyone agreed, with some members noting that high absenteeism is not the case in all communities.

ORR School Committee member Cynthia Johnson said that it's inappropriate to use a legitimate school day as a religious holiday. Jennifer Kulak of the Rochester School Committee commented that traditions change, remarking that stores that used to close on Sunday now are open.

The Joint School Committee voted to make Good Friday a day off; but uncertainty for the following year, when Good Friday does not occur before April break, shows the debate is far from over.

In a separate vote, the committee approved next year's school calendar, tacking on an additional day at the end of the year to make up for Good Friday. They considered instead adding a school day to the first week of school – which currently is a three-day school week from Tuesday to Thursday – but ultimately opted against it.