Some schools in northern New Jersey will delay the start of the school year so students can observe the Jewish New Year.

Rosh Hashana begins on the evening of Wednesday Sept. 4 this year, the day on which many schools in New Jersey reopen.

The Record newspaper reports at least 31 districts in Bergen County and four in Passaic County will reopen almost a week later on Sept. 9. Eleven other districts will begin classes on Friday, Sept 6.

The state Education Department allows absences for almost 130 holidays in the 2013-14 school year. That’s almost triple the number that was accepted in the 1990s.

The list includes Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday on March 13 and a Wiccan spring fertility festival on May 1.

(AP)