Why did FCPS screw up on Diwali?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: • Schools can close for religious holidays if there is a secular, non-religious reason.
• Justifications include significant anticipated absences disrupting operations.
• Closures ensure the maintenance of educational standards and reduce administrative burdens.
• Must comply with the First Amendment, avoiding endorsement of any religion.
• Community feedback and past attendance data can influence decisions.
• Primary reason for closure must be practical and operational, not religious.

So, just so I follow your argument.

FCPS can schedule their winter break and spring break around Christian holidays for "practical reasons", and every weekend around the Christian sabbath for "practical reasons". But if they give Diwali off that's "endorsing Hinduism" whatever that means?

This schools could not function if they (stupidly) tried to operate on Christmas.

Diwali? We went to school for dozens of years with no issues. There's no operational reason to take Diwali off.

Over the past "dozens of years," our schools' Hindu and Sikh population, both students and staff, has grown exponentially. I used to have one or two students who celebrated Diwali, but now it is close to half my class most years.

So what? If those parents choose to take their kids out of school for a day, that's on them. Why should thousands of other students miss a day of school for a religious holiday?

[Anonymous]

Who even cares about Diwali?

[Anonymous]

Why are we off again next week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who even cares about Diwali?

Missin 1970s Fairfax?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are we off again next week?

November has the lowest number of school days of any full month of school - 14!

Even December (Winter Break) and April (Spring Break) have more school days.

How screwed up is this school calendar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who even cares about Diwali?

People who celebrate Diwali?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are we off again next week?

November has the lowest number of school days of any full month of school - 14!

Even December (Winter Break) and April (Spring Break) have more school days.

How screwed up is this school calendar?

Since it has the legally required number of instructional hours, it is not screwed up at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: • Schools can close for religious holidays if there is a secular, non-religious reason.
• Justifications include significant anticipated absences disrupting operations.
• Closures ensure the maintenance of educational standards and reduce administrative burdens.
• Must comply with the First Amendment, avoiding endorsement of any religion.
• Community feedback and past attendance data can influence decisions.
• Primary reason for closure must be practical and operational, not religious.

So, just so I follow your argument.

FCPS can schedule their winter break and spring break around Christian holidays for "practical reasons", and every weekend around the Christian sabbath for "practical reasons". But if they give Diwali off that's "endorsing Hinduism" whatever that means?

This schools could not function if they (stupidly) tried to operate on Christmas.

Diwali? We went to school for dozens of years with no issues. There's no operational reason to take Diwali off.

Over the past "dozens of years," our schools' Hindu and Sikh population, both students and staff, has grown exponentially. I used to have one or two students who celebrated Diwali, but now it is close to half my class most years.

So what? If those parents choose to take their kids out of school for a day, that's on them. Why should thousands of other students miss a day of school for a religious holiday?

Be practical. When a large fraction of the class is absent, for whatever reason, it is disruptive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: • Schools can close for religious holidays if there is a secular, non-religious reason.
• Justifications include significant anticipated absences disrupting operations.
• Closures ensure the maintenance of educational standards and reduce administrative burdens.
• Must comply with the First Amendment, avoiding endorsement of any religion.
• Community feedback and past attendance data can influence decisions.
• Primary reason for closure must be practical and operational, not religious.

So, just so I follow your argument.

FCPS can schedule their winter break and spring break around Christian holidays for "practical reasons", and every weekend around the Christian sabbath for "practical reasons". But if they give Diwali off that's "endorsing Hinduism" whatever that means?

This schools could not function if they (stupidly) tried to operate on Christmas.

Diwali? We went to school for dozens of years with no issues. There's no operational reason to take Diwali off.

I don't know if you know this, but things change. There are more Indian-American students than there were in the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: • Schools can close for religious holidays if there is a secular, non-religious reason.
• Justifications include significant anticipated absences disrupting operations.
• Closures ensure the maintenance of educational standards and reduce administrative burdens.
• Must comply with the First Amendment, avoiding endorsement of any religion.
• Community feedback and past attendance data can influence decisions.
• Primary reason for closure must be practical and operational, not religious.

So, just so I follow your argument.

FCPS can schedule their winter break and spring break around Christian holidays for "practical reasons", and every weekend around the Christian sabbath for "practical reasons". But if they give Diwali off that's "endorsing Hinduism" whatever that means?

This schools could not function if they (stupidly) tried to operate on Christmas.

Diwali? We went to school for dozens of years with no issues. There's no operational reason to take Diwali off.

Over the past "dozens of years," our schools' Hindu and Sikh population, both students and staff, has grown exponentially. I used to have one or two students who celebrated Diwali, but now it is close to half my class most years.

So what? If those parents choose to take their kids out of school for a day, that's on them. Why should thousands of other students miss a day of school for a religious holiday?

Be practical. When a large fraction of the class is absent, for whatever reason, it is disruptive.

+1, as long as they meet the 180 criteria, you can’t really change it due to some parent requests.

[Anonymous]

DCUM and its hatred of the South Asian population is just ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: • Schools can close for religious holidays if there is a secular, non-religious reason.
• Justifications include significant anticipated absences disrupting operations.
• Closures ensure the maintenance of educational standards and reduce administrative burdens.
• Must comply with the First Amendment, avoiding endorsement of any religion.
• Community feedback and past attendance data can influence decisions.
• Primary reason for closure must be practical and operational, not religious.

So, just so I follow your argument.

FCPS can schedule their winter break and spring break around Christian holidays for "practical reasons", and every weekend around the Christian sabbath for "practical reasons". But if they give Diwali off that's "endorsing Hinduism" whatever that means?

This schools could not function if they (stupidly) tried to operate on Christmas.

Diwali? We went to school for dozens of years with no issues. There's no operational reason to take Diwali off.

Over the past "dozens of years," our schools' Hindu and Sikh population, both students and staff, has grown exponentially. I used to have one or two students who celebrated Diwali, but now it is close to half my class most years.

So what? If those parents choose to take their kids out of school for a day, that's on them. Why should thousands of other students miss a day of school for a religious holiday?

Think through what you wrote.

If approximately half the class is Hindu, Jain, or Sikh, that means the other 50% are likely a mix of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and non-denominational/non-religious. That means the students celebrating Diwali are the MAJORITY, not even close to the minority.

Let's just say tje class is 50% Hindu, 20% Christian, 10% Jewish, and 20% Muslim. You'd want the MAJORITY of students to just be called out for the day, but I'm guessing you'd lose your mind if we had school on Christmas even though only 20% of the students celebrate that holiday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM and its hatred of the South Asian population is just ridiculous.

Stop pretending like the South Asian (let's be real, you mean Indian and don't care about Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, etc.) population is victimized. When your ethnicity's holiday is tied to something that boosts our secular capitalist society country wide then you can complain about it not receiving the attention it deserves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: • Schools can close for religious holidays if there is a secular, non-religious reason.
• Justifications include significant anticipated absences disrupting operations.
• Closures ensure the maintenance of educational standards and reduce administrative burdens.
• Must comply with the First Amendment, avoiding endorsement of any religion.
• Community feedback and past attendance data can influence decisions.
• Primary reason for closure must be practical and operational, not religious.

So, just so I follow your argument.

FCPS can schedule their winter break and spring break around Christian holidays for "practical reasons", and every weekend around the Christian sabbath for "practical reasons". But if they give Diwali off that's "endorsing Hinduism" whatever that means?

This schools could not function if they (stupidly) tried to operate on Christmas.

Diwali? We went to school for dozens of years with no issues. There's no operational reason to take Diwali off.

Over the past "dozens of years," our schools' Hindu and Sikh population, both students and staff, has grown exponentially. I used to have one or two students who celebrated Diwali, but now it is close to half my class most years.

So what? If those parents choose to take their kids out of school for a day, that's on them. Why should thousands of other students miss a day of school for a religious holiday?

Think through what you wrote.

If approximately half the class is Hindu, Jain, or Sikh, that means the other 50% are likely a mix of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and non-denominational/non-religious. That means the students celebrating Diwali are the MAJORITY, not even close to the minority.

Let's just say tje class is 50% Hindu, 20% Christian, 10% Jewish, and 20% Muslim. You'd want the MAJORITY of students to just be called out for the day, but I'm guessing you'd lose your mind if we had school on Christmas even though only 20% of the students celebrate that holiday.

If 50% of one class in one school is absent, the other 183 thousand students should be able to go to school.

[Anonymous]

Live in actual India if you want schools off for Diwali.