should schools close for religious holidays

Most public schools close for some days of importance to Christians, but not others. After all, that’s the only practical way to treat various religions equitably and with the respect they deserve. A school has refused to let its Muslim pupils take today off to celebrate Eid al-Adha, saying they should mark the religious holiday tomorrow instead. In March 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that, starting the following year, public school students would get days off to observe two Islamic holidays. Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, which is like a Muslim Christmas celebrated between the end of summer  to the beginning of fall. If you think I should choose, "Yes, Schools SHOULD promote religious holidays" you must give me three *reasons* why. No, what matters, in this line of thinking, is respecting religion. As a non-Catholic who did time at a Catholic school, I recall no consideration of days off for non-Christian religious holidays. What about the many, many more city students who do not observe Eid-al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha? 2. Teachers’ requests to observe the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah the previous fall were approved by the city’s school department, but teachers were not allowed to take off the Christian holiday of Good Friday, according to the Cranston Teachers’ Alliance. If compelled to balance competing claims from all religious believers (and, for the sake of fairness, nonbelievers) with practical matters such as weather, national civic holidays, and children’s (and adults’) needs for days off, then the absurdity of interrupting education for religious holidays becomes immediately apparent. Where does it end? Currently, the Ontario government states that each school board should “have religious accommodation guidelines in place and communicate these guidelines to the community.” This means that if a test or school assembly conflicts with a religious holiday, then the student is allowed to fulfill the requirements another time without penalization. Some schools don’t even distinguish Christmas as a holiday. In New York, schools close for major Jewish holidays, and as of 2015, two days are given for Muslims to observe Eid. Far too many people are trying to be politically correct. The high court has ruled, however, that the government may not erect an explicitly Angela Deanne Paloma, Co News Editor|November 19, 2019, Public schools should not close for any religious reasons.Â. Schools are not required to close on a particular religious holiday but may choose to do so as a matter of administrative convenience as, for example, when large numbers of students are likely to be absent. “Many, many city students celebrate Eid-al Fitr at the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha at the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.” Yet if raw demographic calculations like this determine when students receive instruction, then what if it were demonstrated that there were more nonbelievers than Muslims in New York? (It might bear mentioning that Cranston’s population is predominantly Christian and only about 3 percent Jewish. The ADL is a global anti-hate organization known for their goal to fight anti-Semitism. Public schools should not close or reschedule activities solely because of conflicts between the school calendar and religious holidays. “The Muslim faith is one of the fastest growing in this city and in this nation,” de Blasio explained. Certainly, having schools involved in assessing which holidays require attending religious services and prohibit work (and thus can be taken off by the observant) and which others do not, as happened in Cranston, is not a viable way to run a public school system, and neither is closing on more and more days as certain religious groups increase their population shares in certain places, as happened in New York City. When schools choose not to close on particular holidays, conflicts may arise. Religious Holidays in 8 the Public Schools 108 Tips for Planning Religious Holidays in Public Schools Before planning a religious holiday activity in a public school, ask the following questions: 1. As religious diversity expands, so will the school calendar dilemma. Government schools close for those days, but not for days of importance to Jews. Is this activity designed in any way to either promote or inhibit religion? Because of the district’s mid-August start date, the first semester also has only 85 days, 10 fewer than the second semester. Â. As … After Boston, Massachusetts, endured its snowiest winter on record, and thus an unusually high number of snow days, the nearby town of Easton decided to hold classes on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Good Friday rather than extend the school year even later into summer. As a guest on the March 16, 2015, episode of the Fox program Outnumbered, Representative Sean Duffy of Wisconsin spied a secularist plot, which he outlined thusly: “Don’t let any good crisis go to waste, and if you want to take religion out of the public square, look at Boston and look at all the snow and say, ‘What a great reason now, we can take these religious holidays out of our school system… It’s using the crisis to the liberal benefit.’” The hosts agreed, with Jedediah Bila recommending starting school earlier instead of convening on holidays and Andrea Tantaros summarizing confusedly, “This is what happens when liberal academic Boston meets ethnic Boston.” Forget basic realities like already-arranged summer jobs for teachers and already-planned summer vacations for families, contracted work hours, and the already-complicated logistics of getting kids to school on time—not to mention that teaching students might take precedence over closing for holidays that not all of them celebrate anyway. You may not vote on this poll Public schools with small Jewish populations cannot afford to halt everybody’s learning to accommodate a small demographic. Schools will be allowed to close for Islamic holidays in order to improve attendance rates, under new plans. 1. Public school administrators have to consider numerous factors when deciding when class ought to be in session. Adding days off for religious holidays, many of which occur in the fall, would make the first semester even shorter and the second semester longer because these days would have to be added somewhere. "If you close the schools for every single holiday," he argued, "there won't be any school." Yes, but only in areas with large religious minority 14: 22.58%: No, only for Christian (Federal/State) holidays 21: 33.87%: No, keep schools open on ALL religious holidays! Many would argue that there is already a favored religion in the public school system: Christianity. 2021 Religious Holidays Service. In April of 2018, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, an international news and wire agency for Jewish media, reported that the New York Board of Education was considering closing New York City schools on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—primarily for teachers' sake. However, schools may consider closing when large numbers of student and teacher absences are anticipated. 2. The above is the list of religions for which we provide religious holidays for the year 2020, 2021 and beyond. Add religion into the mix of considerations and rational planning becomes impossible. Schools should still take great care in creating their schedules. Public schools should not close or reschedule activities solely because of conflicts between the school calendar and religious holidays. 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Certainly, having schools involved in assessing which holidays require attending religious services and prohibit work (and thus can be taken off by the observant) and which others do not, as happened in Cranston, is not a viable way to run a public school system, and neither is closing on more and more days as certain religious groups increase their population shares in certain places, as happened in New York … As religious minorities increase in the United States, some want public schools to close not only on Christmas, but also on their religious holidays. At the time, the school committee wanted the mural addressed to “Our Heavenly Father” to remain in place, according to the teachers’ union. Should schools close for major religious holidays? “While the operational impact of some holidays may not rise to the level of requiring us to close school, we do respect the rights of students and staff to celebrate those holidays.” But Arriaga said school officials should be teaching students about the value of religious diversity, not shunning it like something that is harmful. You will offer the students to have their learning interrupted as … schools across the country are faced increasing! If schools close on particular holidays, but should schools close for religious holidays others after all, that s. Treat various religions equitably and with the respect they deserve up on public school system if they honor... Get a gravatar school system if they did honor all the other religions with school shutdowns on their 's! Impacts that can be taken into account important enough in Christianity to close on a religious holiday is First! 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