OP here... the school is now threatening disciplinary action if we cancel the day before Thanksgiving. Doesn't matter if you had it planned in your syllabus, we must un-cancel classes and hold them that day.
I had the same issue when I worked at a college in the rural South and taught a Wednesday night class where 80% of the students were non-traditional female students. After the first class, a group of them came to me and said, "We looked at the syllabus and noticed we had class scheduled for the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. We all are going to have housefuls of people the next day expecting to be fed."
I told them that I understood. And that while I had to be there by contract, they did not. I think I showed a film to an empty room. I ended up with some of the best evaluations I ever had. Amazing how people react when you aren't a total martinet