Fairfax County, Virginia, approved new holidays for the County’s calendar during a recent meeting.
Juneteenth and Election Day are now paid holidays after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved changes to the County’s calendar.
The board also removed Columbus Day from its list of observed holidays due to the inclusion of Election Day and Juneteenth as paid holidays.
Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States.
According to board documents, a name change was discussed for Columbus Day prior to removing it but the County decided against it.
The board said that a day needed to be removed in order to strike a balance with the number of paid holidays, according to the documents.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey C. McKay said that “Fairfax County is moving forward and our holidays must reflect that,” according to an article from the Fairfax Times.
These changes were made by the board after similar decisions were made by the Virginia General Assembly.
With the addition of Election Day and Juneteenth, County employees get 14.5 paid holidays, according to board documents.
