Jewish holiday in MCPS

[Anonymous]

I don't know if anyone is aware, but a number of Jewish institutions RENT the public high school auditoriums for their services (at least for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and for Yom Kippur when it falls on a weekday). The county must make decent money doing this, so maybe that is an added incentive in addition to not having to find and pay a fairly large number of subs for the total of 3 days (2 days of Rosh Hashanah and 1 day of Yom Kippur).

Either way, I'm aware it exists, but I am offended that there is this type of attitude in the county (and I know it has existed, although it's gotten more subtle, since my own mother was in school in moco). And yes, I do feel that if there are any other extremely large religious populations in the county that their major religious holiday(s) should be taken into consideration as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if anyone is aware, but a number of Jewish institutions RENT the public high school auditoriums for their services (at least for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and for Yom Kippur when it falls on a weekday). The county must make decent money doing this, so maybe that is an added incentive in addition to not having to find and pay a fairly large number of subs for the total of 3 days (2 days of Rosh Hashanah and 1 day of Yom Kippur).

Either way, I'm aware it exists, but I am offended that there is this type of attitude in the county (and I know it has existed, although it's gotten more subtle, since my own mother was in school in moco). And yes, I do feel that if there are any other extremely large religious populations in the county that their major religious holiday(s) should be taken into consideration as well.

Why are you offended?

[Anonymous]

Public school should not stop because of Jewish holidays.

The Xmas and Easter breaks are there for tradition only.

There will always be Xmas trees in December, Santa on shopping malls, and egg hunt on Xmas. Get over it.

And yes, the US was founded on Christian values. This is way Xmas and easter are traditions.

[Anonymous]

Summer break is a tradition too, going back to the farming days when kids were needed to tend the farm during the summer. And spring break was for planting seeds, not for Easter.

Its ONE DAY. Deal with it.

As a kid, I loved the random days off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if anyone is aware, but a number of Jewish institutions RENT the public high school auditoriums for their services (at least for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and for Yom Kippur when it falls on a weekday). The county must make decent money doing this, so maybe that is an added incentive in addition to not having to find and pay a fairly large number of subs for the total of 3 days (2 days of Rosh Hashanah and 1 day of Yom Kippur).

Either way, I'm aware it exists, but I am offended that there is this type of attitude in the county (and I know it has existed, although it's gotten more subtle, since my own mother was in school in moco). And yes, I do feel that if there are any other extremely large religious populations in the county that their major religious holiday(s) should be taken into consideration as well.

Why are you offended?

I'm confused too. I think she's offended by the OP (and people like the OP) who don't think other large religious populations should have their traditions recognized. But I'm not sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public school should not stop because of Jewish holidays.

The Xmas and Easter breaks are there for tradition only.

There will always be Xmas trees in December, Santa on shopping malls, and egg hunt on Xmas. Get over it.

And yes, the US was founded on Christian values. This is way Xmas and easter are traditions.

Admittedly I am half jewish and half christian so my traditions are muddled as it is, but I am not familiar with the Xmas egg hunt.

If the easter break is tradition only let's make it spring break and stop moving it all over the calendar to follow Easter. It disrupts the school calendar, especially when it is late like it was last year and falls so close to AP exams, and is relatively close to the end of the school year.

While we don't celebrate the Jewish holidays I don't have a problem with the kids having one day off. Our school is probably 40-50% Jewish so it would be a wasted day if they had school.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I don't want to live like they did circa 1776. I much prefer well-reasoned progress, and some flexibilty based on changing needs.

I don't really get the freak-out about having days off on some (not all) Jewish holidays. Life's too short to worry about this kind of stuff. If you think your child isn't getting a great education because of the missed days, have an academically-oriented day at home.

And if you are a member of another religious minority that does not get days off for its holidays, as my family is (prior Muslim family poster), I understand feeling slighted in some ways. But to me it's not enough of a big deal. Like I said before, the school systems take other religions into consideration when planning tests and other school events. That's a really nice thing to do! In many other countries, that's not even on government radar. The U.S. is extraordinarily diverse -- ethnically, religiously, socio-economically. Not everyone is going to be 100% pleased. I think the system is pretty awesome. Not perfect, but what is?

[Anonymous]

I am pretty sure Howard County does, which does not have as large of a Jewish-American population as MoCo.

Howard and Baltimore County both do; Baltimore City does not. I checked because we spent Rosh Hashanah at the aquarium in Baltimore and I wanted to see how crowded it would be. And, I spent the day there with my sister, who teaches in one district in Westchester County and has her kids in another district there. Not only did they have Rosh Hashanah off, but the day after as well!

I went to MCPS 30 years ago and we had RH and YK off then, so I've never thought anything of it. But the sub issue definitely makes sense. I have an issue with the seemingly random teacher professional days and early release days scattered throughout the year, and starting before Labor Day, rather than this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if anyone is aware, but a number of Jewish institutions RENT the public high school auditoriums for their services (at least for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and for Yom Kippur when it falls on a weekday). The county must make decent money doing this, so maybe that is an added incentive in addition to not having to find and pay a fairly large number of subs for the total of 3 days (2 days of Rosh Hashanah and 1 day of Yom Kippur).

Either way, I'm aware it exists, but I am offended that there is this type of attitude in the county (and I know it has existed, although it's gotten more subtle, since my own mother was in school in moco). And yes, I do feel that if there are any other extremely large religious populations in the county that their major religious holiday(s) should be taken into consideration as well.

Why are you offended?

B/C I'm Jewish. Even if the day was not a school holiday I would take it off. I've lived here my entire life and gone to the public schools. As I have witnessed as a kid and even now, antisemitism is alive and well in moco (it's much more subtle now). Blame the jews b/c we have to take a day off. I do not care if ppl agree with me or not and I assume on DCUM I will be bashed. I simply do not care. I have no more tolerance left for this!!!!

go, bash away.

[Anonymous]

The anti semitism on DCUM is the worst part of this website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if anyone is aware, but a number of Jewish institutions RENT the public high school auditoriums for their services (at least for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and for Yom Kippur when it falls on a weekday). The county must make decent money doing this, so maybe that is an added incentive in addition to not having to find and pay a fairly large number of subs for the total of 3 days (2 days of Rosh Hashanah and 1 day of Yom Kippur).

Either way, I'm aware it exists, but I am offended that there is this type of attitude in the county (and I know it has existed, although it's gotten more subtle, since my own mother was in school in moco). And yes, I do feel that if there are any other extremely large religious populations in the county that their major religious holiday(s) should be taken into consideration as well.

Why are you offended?

B/C I'm Jewish. Even if the day was not a school holiday I would take it off. I've lived here my entire life and gone to the public schools. As I have witnessed as a kid and even now, antisemitism is alive and well in moco (it's much more subtle now). Blame the jews b/c we have to take a day off. I do not care if ppl agree with me or not and I assume on DCUM I will be bashed. I simply do not care. I have no more tolerance left for this!!!!

go, bash away.

I'm not going to bash. I just don't understand how renting public schools for Jewish holidays offends you. I'm not seeing the link. To me that post made it seem like you were offended that Jews somehow get special treatment from the school system. ? But then you say you are Jewish. ? Confusing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Christians get a week off for Christmas and Easter. In fact spring break moves around each year to be aligned with Easter. Even some religious schools don't move spring break from year to year (like St Albans/NCS).

While Winter Break is pretty much all about Christmas, Spring Break is NOT all about Easter. Passover occurs a few days before Easter. If you look at the MCPS calendar during spring break, there is always a note that says "Passover begins on Month, Day."

Honestly, I don't mind the closure for Rosh Hashanah. I schedule dental appointments and make use of the time to get the "kid-type things" done. True, it's a bit difficult with the interruption in school, but this year, my kids bounced back into school Friday without missing a beat.

What I do mind is being closed the day after Easter. No other school districts are closed on Easter Monday. And being closed for primaries and elections. When I was a kid, our schools weren't closed on election days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if anyone is aware, but a number of Jewish institutions RENT the public high school auditoriums for their services (at least for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and for Yom Kippur when it falls on a weekday). The county must make decent money doing this, so maybe that is an added incentive in addition to not having to find and pay a fairly large number of subs for the total of 3 days (2 days of Rosh Hashanah and 1 day of Yom Kippur).

Either way, I'm aware it exists, but I am offended that there is this type of attitude in the county (and I know it has existed, although it's gotten more subtle, since my own mother was in school in moco). And yes, I do feel that if there are any other extremely large religious populations in the county that their major religious holiday(s) should be taken into consideration as well.

Why are you offended?

B/C I'm Jewish. Even if the day was not a school holiday I would take it off. I've lived here my entire life and gone to the public schools. As I have witnessed as a kid and even now, antisemitism is alive and well in moco (it's much more subtle now). Blame the jews b/c we have to take a day off. I do not care if ppl agree with me or not and I assume on DCUM I will be bashed. I simply do not care. I have no more tolerance left for this!!!!

go, bash away.

I'm not going to bash. I just don't understand how renting public schools for Jewish holidays offends you. I'm not seeing the link. To me that post made it seem like you were offended that Jews somehow get special treatment from the school system. ? But then you say you are Jewish. ? Confusing.

She was referring to the attitude of the OP, not about renting out the schools for religious services. I know, she didn't transition well from talking about renting the schools to being offended by the OP.

[Anonymous]

What I do mind is being closed the day after Easter. No other school districts are closed on Easter Monday. And being closed for primaries and elections. When I was a kid, our schools weren't closed on election days.


Why, exactly, do you mind? Schools are closed on election days because they are used as polling places. It would be a major safety issue to have people walking in and out of school all day while students were there--not to mention there would be no gym to conduct PE classes and no cafeteria in which to feed students.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree that the being open on Columbus Day and then closed the Friday after is a much bigger pain in the neck.