Yom Kippur student absences could cost Michigan schools

(JTA) — The holiest day of the Jewish calendar couldn’t come at a worse time for Michigan public schools this year.

Yom Kippur falls on Oct. 5 — which is also the state’s “student count day,” the one day a year when the number of students who attend school determines how much that district will receive in state funds the following year.

By Michigan law, count day is on the first Wednesday of October, and superintendents typically go to great lengths to entice students to attend. Districts have coaxed students to attend on the days using raffles, basketball tickets and zoo trips. This helps the...