Anonymous wrote:I thought that the reason MCPS closes on the Jewish holidays was because of the number of Jewish teachers who request the days off and the inability to staff the schools. As for the Christian holidays, I assume there is similar logic although they conveniently fall at winter and spring break. Are there enough Muslims teachers in the school system to make this an issue?

No

And in my experiences, there aren't enough practicing Muslims in any one school (I've only had experiences in diverse settings.) to shut down a school either on religious holidays.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that the ONLY christian holiday that I have off for is Christmas? But it's rolled into a 2 week winter break.

Where do you work that you have a winter break and yet work Sundays (so no Easter) and don't get Thanksgiving off? I'm curious.

Okay, you are just being silly.

It is the friggin weekend. That is why Easter is off. Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday. It is a secular holiday. If you think otherwise, you need to get your head examined.

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that the ONLY christian holiday that I have off for is Christmas? But it's rolled into a 2 week winter break.

That is because Christmas is actually a designated federal holiday.

You would have Christmas off whether or not there was a winter break sandwiched around it.

Since it is a federal holiday, Christmas is a moot point in the discussion of whether or not schools should close for religious holidays. It is irrelevant to this debate.

Slippery slope. Then you'll have the atheists and wiccans demanding some random day off...like a coworker who stood up during an all staff meeting of 200+ people and pitched a fit right after the ED announced a free day off to be taken anytime in December as a holiday gift (not Christmas, not Hanukkah, etc but holiday)...coworker was irate because not everyone celebrates a holiday in December. Sigh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next thing you'll know the Christians will want Christmas, and Easter, and even their Sabbath off.

Maryland law requires that schools be closed on Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter Monday. If you don't like that change the law.

I'm the poster who wrote that, and I don't have a problem with schools being closed on those days. I do have a problem with Muslims being labeled as "aggressive" for requesting a small fraction of what Christians have as far as accommodations at school.

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that the ONLY christian holiday that I have off for is Christmas? But it's rolled into a 2 week winter break.

Where do you work that you have a winter break and yet work Sundays (so no Easter) and don't get Thanksgiving off? I'm curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Coalition wants Montgomery County schools to close on Muslim holidays
Group asks staff, students to stay home, celebrate Eid al-Adha on Oct. 15

http://www.gazette.net/article/20130918/NEWS/130919245/1262/coalition-wants-montgomery-county-schools-to-close-on-muslim-holidays&template=gazette


Now the Muslims want to have the schools closed. Next we will have the Asians with Tet and then some other group. Where is the end?

Yes, let's honor every cultures' holidays with days off school! Go America! It's not just about National Holidays like other countries do, it's about multiculturalism, tolerancy, and treating everyone the same.

Well, yes, actually, it is. (Except tolerance, not tolerancy.)

Anonymous wrote:Next thing you'll know the Christians will want Christmas, and Easter, and even their Sabbath off.

Maryland law requires that schools be closed on Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter Monday. If you don't like that change the law.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next thing you'll know the Christians will want Christmas, and Easter, and even their Sabbath off.

A request that we're sure would be granted to Christians in a Muslim country??

Ha!

Anonymous wrote:Jew in NOVA here whose kids aren't off for the Jewish holidays. We pull them out but have no issue with it. Muslim observers should do the same.

Same here, agree.

Btw, just see how England has mishandled its immigrant diversity, or rather dispersity. Immigrants there have no desire to be British and are asking schools and localities to help them recreate enclaves for them (ie special temples, schools, holidays, sharia law).

Anonymous wrote: Coalition wants Montgomery County schools to close on Muslim holidays
Group asks staff, students to stay home, celebrate Eid al-Adha on Oct. 15

http://www.gazette.net/article/20130918/NEWS/130919245/1262/coalition-wants-montgomery-county-schools-to-close-on-muslim-holidays&template=gazette


Now the Muslims want to have the schools closed. Next we will have the Asians with Tet and then some other group. Where is the end?

Yes, let's honor every cultures' holidays with days off school! Go America! It's not just about National Holidays like other countries do, it's about multiculturalism, tolerancy, and treating everyone the same.

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to the % of students and staff who will be out if school. If the Muslim impact is enough to cause the school day to be ineffective, then school should close.

This.

It comes down to the % of students and staff who will be out if school. If the Muslim impact is enough to cause the school day to be ineffective, then school should close.

Well the demographics of the county are changing. The Muslim population is growing. In my kids' upcounty elementary school, I would guess that about 20% of the students are Muslim (given that is the case in their individual classes during the five years they have gone there). Of course, the population is not evenly distributed, so maybe you don't notice it at your school. Just from a fairness perspective, it doesn't seem fair to have the Jewish holidays off when the percentage of Jewish students is likely lower or at least not higher than Muslim students.

I appreciate that we can't keep adding days-off, and in a district as diverse as ours, it is hard to see an end to this. So another approach might be to stop taking of the Jewish holidays. There are many school districts and institutions that are not closed these days. Then, students that are not Christian can have excused absences on their holidays.

Can I just say that the ONLY christian holiday that I have off for is Christmas? But it's rolled into a 2 week winter break.