Less than two months after adopting a 2021-22 academic calendar, the school board has revised it to take into account two Jewish holidays and buck the trend as far as “Columbus Day” goes. Some school districts — Branford included — had moved away from recognizing the name of the federal holiday on the second Monday of October that honors the Italian explorer now associated by some with the violent colonization of the Americas.

The Branford district calendar adopted in April simply wrapped the Oct. 11, 2021, holiday into a four-day “October Recess.” At a June 16 school board meeting, however, the board voted to add back in “Columbus Day” but gave it equal billing with “Indigenous People Day.” It will be labeled “Columbus/Indigenous People Day.