Veteran should be shown
respect during his holiday

They were willing to sacrifice their lives for us as they fought for our country on foreign soil. Now, on the one day of the year our nation has set aside to recognize their efforts, they have to be at work or be charged for a day off. At least that’s the case for teachers in certain school districts, including Old Bridge.

Veterans who teach in Old Bridge, like the rest of the staff, must take a personal day if they want to attend a Veterans Day function or ceremony on Nov. 11, or they will have to make up the day after the school year ends in June.

Old Bridge, like roughly half the Middlesex County school districts covered by Greater Media Newspapers, has school on Veterans Day. And as in many other districts, several schools in Old Bridge will discuss the meaning of the holiday with students. Many will bring in local veterans of wars for assemblies and other programs where the entire school can honor them and hear their stories.

There’s nothing wrong with that — in fact, in most cases it probably enables the children to recognize the holiday in a more meaningful way than they would have at home.

The problem is with the penalizing of a veteran who chooses to observe the holiday in a service or any other activity outside of their workplace.

A veteran such as Richard Fornadel, who fought in Vietnam and now teaches in Old Bridge, should not be required, as he was during the last school year, to make up the day he was absent for Veterans Day.

Nor should he be required to use a personal day or face a fine.

Sure, as school officials say in response to his concerns, he is employed under a teachers’ union contract that says he must work a certain number of days a year. And yes, he can take a personal day to observe Veterans Day.

As a matter of respect, he shouldn’t have to, in our opinion. To us, Richard Fornadel and any other war veteran gets a pass on that day.

The Old Bridge school board should reconsider its requirements in this case.

If a school district is going to be in session on Veterans Day, that’s fine, but at least it can afford its veterans the choice of how they want to observe their own holiday.