RANDOLPH – It’s not over until school board critics say it’s over.

That seems to be the mantra of those unhappy with the school board for eliminating one day of the two-day Rosh Hashanah holiday from next year’s school calendar.

That decision was made a few months ago and reinforced twice since, including in a 5-4 vote at a contentious meeting last week.

That session was punctuated by the appearance of five local Republicans, all of whom criticized the board’s move.

In no particular order, the list included state Sen. Anthony M. Bucco, Assemblyman Brian Bergen, Morris County Commissioner Tayfun Selen, who is also a CD-11 congressional candidate, Larry Friscia, a CD-11 candidate as well, and last, but not least, county commissioner Deborah Smith.

It was Smith who released a statement prior to last week’s meeting urging a big turnout.

As we said, the board has now voted on the calendar three times, including the original vote, but Smith is not giving up.

She sent out another statement this afternoon expressing disappointment at the board’s action and urging another big turnout at the March 15 meeting to continue pressing the issue. Other critics have done likewise on social media sites.

“This board is not focused on education or teaching children about the diverse community that makes up Randolph or the history of the people who built this wonderful township and this nation,” Smith wrote. “This board is focused on political correctness and joining a deeply disturbing trend among school boards across America of culturally cleansing our society of all traditions and history.”

It is indisputable that Republicans in general seem unhappy with public education these days. And it certainly can pay political dividends.

Yet, in fairness, it’s hard to see the board’s Rosh Hashanah decision having anything to do with “political correctness.”

The move seems more a result of the board trying to ensure the required 180-days of teaching into the school calendar without extending the school year until late June.

Since this issue hasn’t ended, one question is how determined will the board be to stay the course?

To a layman, this doesn’t seem like such a tough issue. A check of the official 2022-23 school calendar shows 184 days of teaching with four “snow/emergency” days built in.

How hard would it be to reduce the snow days to three and make the second day of Rosh Hashanah a school holiday?

That seems particularly feasible when you realize the remote learning many schools were able to do during the height of the pandemic can make traditional snow days obsolete.

Many school boards take pride in saying they’re above politics, but a purely political decision is needed here.