Reply to Earlier start date proposed for MCPS

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[quote=Anonymous]The problem is the fuzzy standard.  When the Jewish holidays were given off, absenteeism for both teachers/staff and students was quite high.  The county could not get sufficient replacements to make things run.  And for those 2 days, absenteeism even today would continue to be high, such that it has an operational impact.  It is not yet that high for Eid - they said it was about 5.5%, which is the same for the 2nd day of Rosh Hashana (which is an equally religious holiday as the other days off but never given off in the County) and a typical Friday.  If that standard is sufficient, then they'll have to start giving off the 2nd day of Rosh Hashana, and possibly 1-2 days of Passover, too.  The truth is, everyone (or at least all non-Christians) has religious days that they have to figure out how to work their prayer times around, and may fall behind on school work because of the family celebrations/religious obligations.  When students celebrate Passover, many leave town to go visit family and miss a few days of school, or if they stay local and go to school, family obligations may run from 5pm-midnight in many families.  It sucks, but it is the cost of living in a secular state.  I agree that it seems unfair that in a "secular" society we still give disproportionate weight to Christian holidays (I think Good Friday and Easter Monday are examples that should likely be pulled), but even Christians who celebrate Ash Wednesday have to fit it around other things.  It sounds like the move to try and do something about Eid this year is a disaster - especially if it isn't even going to be celebrated on that date.  The school board should not be shifting dates around in this way, but should look seriously at whether the absenteeism warrants the shut down.  If they can have a professional day, I think that argument is made - it isn't having an operational impact on staff.  But I think it is a slippery slope - if a 5.5% absentee rate is sufficient, then we have a few more holidays for a range of other religions we need to start clearing.[/quote]

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