Honest, Abe, They Changed Your Birthday

Abraham Lincoln once said: “You can fool all of the people some of the time. And you can fool some of the people all of the time.”

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But the Conejo Valley school board acknowledged it wasn’t fooling anyone with its latest scheduling shift: Celebrating Lincoln’s birthday on Dec. 27 instead of Feb. 12.

Rewriting history to fit a tight school schedule, the board Tuesday decided to observe Lincoln’s birthday nearly two months early--eliminating one of the two February holidays usually enjoyed by students in the district.

The decision to put the President in his place was unanimous. But the suggestion drew skeptical questioning from Trustee Mildred Lynch.

“They allow you to juggle it around like that?” she asked. “It seems an incredibly unusual thing to do, to take a holiday that’s in February and move it to whenever’s convenient.”

Assistant Supt. Leean Nemeroff answered that indeed, California law allows school districts to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday whenever they please.

Without moving the birthday observance, the school year would end on a Monday, or winter recess would begin on a Tuesday. Shifting the day off reserved for Lincoln’s birthday is a better alternative, she said.

This is not the first time the Conejo Valley Unified School District has tinkered with history. Last year, it observed Lincoln’s birthday in April, leaving the students only one February holiday. George Washington’s birthday falls on Feb. 22 and is typically celebrated the third Monday of the month.

But Nemeroff, who engineers the calendar, called the practice “very unusual” and said there is a good chance that the Lincoln and Washington holidays will be observed separately on two February days in 1997 and 1998.

Trustee Dolores Didio said celebrating the holiday in December was hardly a slight compared to the way some other people treat that bearded President known for his log-splitting, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address.

“There are many states that don’t observe Lincoln’s birthday at all,” Didio said. She declined to name them.

Besides, said Trustee Richard F. Newman: “He’s dead.”

Supt. Jerry Gross watched impassively as the board moved the birthday by a 5-0 vote. He later acknowledged his disappointment at the way the district treated Lincoln.

“It’s depressing to me. He’s always been my hero,” said Gross, who said he has collected Lincoln-related material for 20 years.

Gross said his collection includes an 1860 Lincoln campaign brochure, a Lincoln signature and a picture from the original cast used to make the Lincoln penny.

He said it was time for the board to start picking on another President.

“Next year, it’s going to be Washington,” Gross promised.