No holiday today for Diwali

[Anonymous]

I mean, it’s All Saints Day and we aren’t getting it off either. This isn’t a “Christians are the problem” issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi All! Usually it was labeled as "Professional day". How come no holiday this year? Anyone know?

Why would it need to be a holiday off of school?

Why is Christmas?

What percent of the US is Christian?
What percentage of the founding fathers were Christian?

We aren't just going to roll up our own traditions and start holding holidays for every small group of inhabitants.

Who is the us in "our traditions", and why aren't we (whoever "we" is) going to do that?

The existing traditions = we. But not just existing. Majority.
Less than 3 percent of mcps is Hindu.

You can understand how taking a day off for every minor groups holidays would eventually become problematic in a diverse area.

Traditions change.

I’m a middle aged Indian American living in MC with kids in school. (I’m the poster who noted that this was about the end of the marking period). Closing the school due to high level absence doesn’t make sense to me, because there won’t be a high level of absence. If my kids were younger and I was shuffling for care, closing would annoy me. Now that my kids are in HS and could use the extra sleep and studying time, I think all extra days off are fine.

But very few Hindus take the day off to pray, even fewer than those who say they celebrate Diwali.

So traditions change but not sure this one makes a ton of sense unless it’s tied to something else on the calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi All! Usually it was labeled as "Professional day". How come no holiday this year? Anyone know?

Why would it need to be a holiday off of school?

Why is Christmas?

What percent of the US is Christian?
What percentage of the founding fathers were Christian?

We aren't just going to roll up our own traditions and start holding holidays for every small group of inhabitants.

Who is the us in "our traditions", and why aren't we (whoever "we" is) going to do that?

The existing traditions = we. But not just existing. Majority.
Less than 3 percent of mcps is Hindu.

You can understand how taking a day off for every minor groups holidays would eventually become problematic in a diverse area.

You realize that not only Hindus celebrate Diwali right? The holiday has it's own meanings to Buddhists, Sikhs, and many others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi All! Usually it was labeled as "Professional day". How come no holiday this year? Anyone know?

Why would it need to be a holiday off of school?

Why is Christmas?

What percent of the US is Christian?
What percentage of the founding fathers were Christian?

We aren't just going to roll up our own traditions and start holding holidays for every small group of inhabitants.

Who is the us in "our traditions", and why aren't we (whoever "we" is) going to do that?

The existing traditions = we. But not just existing. Majority.
Less than 3 percent of mcps is Hindu.

You can understand how taking a day off for every minor groups holidays would eventually become problematic in a diverse area.

Traditions change.

I’m a middle aged Indian American living in MC with kids in school. (I’m the poster who noted that this was about the end of the marking period). Closing the school due to high level absence doesn’t make sense to me, because there won’t be a high level of absence. If my kids were younger and I was shuffling for care, closing would annoy me. Now that my kids are in HS and could use the extra sleep and studying time, I think all extra days off are fine.

But very few Hindus take the day off to pray, even fewer than those who say they celebrate Diwali.

So traditions change but not sure this one makes a ton of sense unless it’s tied to something else on the calendar.

Also south Asian here. However, Diwali isn't only about the prayers (most of which do take place in the evening), it's about the festivities, gatherings with friends/family, etc. It's akin to Christmas Eve mass vs. Christmas day. Ideally, we would get the day AFTER Diwali off because of the late nature of many of the festivities, which include lighting candles in the evening, eating elaborate meals with family, and taking prayers in the evening similar to Hannukah.

[Anonymous]

The state requires Christmas off and Goid Friday/Easter Monday.

Dwali usually aligns with end of quarter and can be off but with Election Day off Tuesday it would have been dumb to have Friday and Tuesday off but not Monday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They do their best each year to fit these holidays in with the professional days in the calendar. Some years it works well (in terms of the holidays aligning with how the quarter unfolds) and sometimes it doesn't.

A PP is right that in our county, the Jewish holidays are prioritized in that process because of the sheer number of those observing. Essentially, the classes in many schools would have no content on those days due to either substitute teachers or so many vacant desks that teachers would choose not to cover new content.

I'm none of these religions, and I personally am disappointed that we no longer get the day after halloween off! We got that for years! It's not religious, but a very practical day to not send kids to school!

Everyone-- consider advocating for year round school and all of these could be accommodated!! (YRSchool doesn't necessarily have more instructional days than we currently have, but they are spread through summer with a few long breaks during the year rather than a long summer and then few holidays during the school year.)

Year round school is a terrible idea. Do you realize that there is already a teacher shortage? Force teachers to commit to year round school and we'll see even more teachers leave the profession.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s nice to get the day off for different holidays. I use it to teach my kids about different cultures and their beliefs. I do think the makeup of America will be drastically different in the future due to immigration, decline in certain faiths, birth rates. What was once a majority may no longer be so in a few decades so we should be flexible to change the calendar as needed. What the founding fathers did for school closures is no longer relevant if the dynamics of the population change.

[Anonymous]

My school closed every night for the Diwali festival of lights. Same as for Hannukah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi All! Usually it was labeled as "Professional day". How come no holiday this year? Anyone know?

Why would it need to be a holiday off of school?

Why is Christmas?

What percent of the US is Christian?
What percentage of the founding fathers were Christian?

We aren't just going to roll up our own traditions and start holding holidays for every small group of inhabitants.

Who is the us in "our traditions", and why aren't we (whoever "we" is) going to do that?

The existing traditions = we. But not just existing. Majority.
Less than 3 percent of mcps is Hindu.

You can understand how taking a day off for every minor groups holidays would eventually become problematic in a diverse area.

Traditions change.

I’m a middle aged Indian American living in MC with kids in school. (I’m the poster who noted that this was about the end of the marking period). Closing the school due to high level absence doesn’t make sense to me, because there won’t be a high level of absence. If my kids were younger and I was shuffling for care, closing would annoy me. Now that my kids are in HS and could use the extra sleep and studying time, I think all extra days off are fine.

But very few Hindus take the day off to pray, even fewer than those who say they celebrate Diwali.

So traditions change but not sure this one makes a ton of sense unless it’s tied to something else on the calendar.

Also south Asian here. However, Diwali isn't only about the prayers (most of which do take place in the evening), it's about the festivities, gatherings with friends/family, etc. It's akin to Christmas Eve mass vs. Christmas day. Ideally, we would get the day AFTER Diwali off because of the late nature of many of the festivities, which include lighting candles in the evening, eating elaborate meals with family, and taking prayers in the evening similar to Hannukah.

It's fine for sone kids to miss school occasionally. It's gen teachers miss school that things fall apart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s nice to get the day off for different holidays. I use it to teach my kids about different cultures and their beliefs. I do think the makeup of America will be drastically different in the future due to immigration, decline in certain faiths, birth rates. What was once a majority may no longer be so in a few decades so we should be flexible to change the calendar as needed. What the founding fathers did for school closures is no longer relevant if the dynamics of the population change.

Huh???????????????
You need to shut down the school because 2% of the population might be bigger in a few decades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi All! Usually it was labeled as "Professional day". How come no holiday this year? Anyone know?

Why would it need to be a holiday off of school?

Why is Christmas?

What percent of the US is Christian?
What percentage of the founding fathers were Christian?

We aren't just going to roll up our own traditions and start holding holidays for every small group of inhabitants.

Who is the us in "our traditions", and why aren't we (whoever "we" is) going to do that?

The existing traditions = we. But not just existing. Majority.
Less than 3 percent of mcps is Hindu.

You can understand how taking a day off for every minor groups holidays would eventually become problematic in a diverse area.

Traditions change.

I’m a middle aged Indian American living in MC with kids in school. (I’m the poster who noted that this was about the end of the marking period). Closing the school due to high level absence doesn’t make sense to me, because there won’t be a high level of absence. If my kids were younger and I was shuffling for care, closing would annoy me. Now that my kids are in HS and could use the extra sleep and studying time, I think all extra days off are fine.

But very few Hindus take the day off to pray, even fewer than those who say they celebrate Diwali.

So traditions change but not sure this one makes a ton of sense unless it’s tied to something else on the calendar.

Also south Asian here. However, Diwali isn't only about the prayers (most of which do take place in the evening), it's about the festivities, gatherings with friends/family, etc. It's akin to Christmas Eve mass vs. Christmas day. Ideally, we would get the day AFTER Diwali off because of the late nature of many of the festivities, which include lighting candles in the evening, eating elaborate meals with family, and taking prayers in the evening similar to Hannukah.

Well ideally we'd have the day after Halloween off but we don't so let's get on with our lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi All! Usually it was labeled as "Professional day". How come no holiday this year? Anyone know?

Why would it need to be a holiday off of school?

Why is Christmas?

What percent of the US is Christian?
What percentage of the founding fathers were Christian?

We aren't just going to roll up our own traditions and start holding holidays for every small group of inhabitants.

Who is the us in "our traditions", and why aren't we (whoever "we" is) going to do that?

The existing traditions = we. But not just existing. Majority.
Less than 3 percent of mcps is Hindu.

You can understand how taking a day off for every minor groups holidays would eventually become problematic in a diverse area.

Traditions change.

I’m a middle aged Indian American living in MC with kids in school. (I’m the poster who noted that this was about the end of the marking period). Closing the school due to high level absence doesn’t make sense to me, because there won’t be a high level of absence. If my kids were younger and I was shuffling for care, closing would annoy me. Now that my kids are in HS and could use the extra sleep and studying time, I think all extra days off are fine.

But very few Hindus take the day off to pray, even fewer than those who say they celebrate Diwali.

So traditions change but not sure this one makes a ton of sense unless it’s tied to something else on the calendar.

Also south Asian here. However, Diwali isn't only about the prayers (most of which do take place in the evening), it's about the festivities, gatherings with friends/family, etc. It's akin to Christmas Eve mass vs. Christmas day. Ideally, we would get the day AFTER Diwali off because of the late nature of many of the festivities, which include lighting candles in the evening, eating elaborate meals with family, and taking prayers in the evening similar to Hannukah.

Just to add: not all Indians celebrate Diwali. We don’t. Although our district gives a half day. Which is nice. Sometimes it’s the thought that counts!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi All! Usually it was labeled as "Professional day". How come no holiday this year? Anyone know?

Why would it need to be a holiday off of school?

Why is Christmas?

Because it falls during a scheduled break. Just liket this.

Are you stupid? Or are you being deliberately obtuse?

The scheduled break has purposefully always been around major Christian holidays. Has it been a coincidence that winter break mysteriously always includes Christmas and Spring Break always mysteriously is around Easter????? Come on. Use common sense. This is an old tradition based on decades of predominantly Christian-based populations that's very antiquated.

The nasty tones here are completely unnecessary.

The false premise of your question was more unnecessary. Maybe when you stop behaving in bad faith, you might get good faith answers.

But since you just acknowledged that you were, in fact, being deliberately obtuse, allow me to break this down for you:

The American tradition is to have separation of church and state. This is well covered in the Federalist papers. As such, religious holidays have never been called such on the school calendar. For a very long time, Christianity was the majority religion in this country -- it still is, of course, but observers of other faiths have grown appreciatively, and so we now accommodate their holidays in our public schools in the interest of diversity, equity and inclusion (you know, those things that make America great!). Only, due to the tradition that we separate church and state, we don't actually call it those things.

Do you understand this now a little better? Or are you going to continue to act like an utter dipshit?

Actually your historical knowledge of government’s relationship with religion needs some work.

No it doesn’t. You’re just a bloody idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s nice to get the day off for different holidays. I use it to teach my kids about different cultures and their beliefs. I do think the makeup of America will be drastically different in the future due to immigration, decline in certain faiths, birth rates. What was once a majority may no longer be so in a few decades so we should be flexible to change the calendar as needed. What the founding fathers did for school closures is no longer relevant if the dynamics of the population change.

That sounds lovely, but most parents are not doing that! I think in-school celebrations or assemblies are a more effective way for teaching kids than giving them the day off.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I think it may just not be off this year because they had to take Election Day off and maybe they couldn't make the calendar work to accommodate that and Diwali and the end of MP1.