Earlier this morning, the Board of Education gave me authority to declare this Friday, June 19th a District Holiday in order to recognize and honor the importance of Juneteenth. All employees will be compensated as a paid holiday.
Juneteenth commemorates the day when slaves in the last geographic area in America where slavery existed learned of their freedom. This took place on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, when Union General Gordon Granger read General Order #3, announcing that "all slaves are free" by Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and issued on January 1, 1863. It took over two and a half years for the news to travel to southwest Texas.
In 2006, Ohio passed a resolution that officially designated June 19 as “Juneteenth National Freedom Day to acknowledge the freedom, history and culture that June 19, 1865, the day on which the last slaves in the United States were set free in Texas, has come to symbolize.”
The Warrensville Heights Board of Education and I each believe that Juneteenth should be memorialized as a day of reflection for all Americans, regardless of race, recognizing the important significance of ending formalized, legal slavery in our country.
We hope you use this time as one of reflection. Together we will continue our journey of providing a quality education to all of our scholars.
One Team, One Vision, One Goal,
Donald J. Jolly II
Superintendent