Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 09:57     Subject: Diwali peition
According to a New York City study, declaring two Muslims Eids per year as a holiday would only knock off nine school days over the next 20 years.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-eid-school-20150923-story.html

I suspect Diwali --also based on a lunar calendar-- would have a similar limited impact.

In 2016, Diwali is on October 30. A SUNDAY.
In 2017, Diwali is on October 19. That is a Thursday, but MCPS already eliminated the day for teachers to attend the State conference in 2016. Just eliminate it again in 2017. FWIW, I teach for MCPS.
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 09:50     Subject: Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:For the love of God, the kids will never be in school in Fall at this rate. Google says this is an Oct/Nov holiday. We have enough days off then already.

I disagreed with the Ramadan decision too though. We simply cannot recognize every single holiday anyone in the county might be celebrating. So long as kids can take the day off and not be penalized for missing things I do not see why a holiday is needed.


I hear you on the number of days, but then we should cancel Christmas, and only celebrate secular and federal holidays. I don't think the answer is f*ck you and your non-Christian holiday, which is essentially what the norm is.


83 percent of Americans are Christians; 13 percent have no religion. I'd guess that many in that 13 percent (such as myself) are culturally "Christian" in that we celebrate Christmas in a secular way. So, acting like all religious holidays in this country have the same impact and should be treated the same way is asinine. It really is OK for the US to keep its own traditions.


As an atheist who celebrates Christmas, I couldn't agree more. Unless a substantial portion of the population celebrates something, school should go on and those with conflicting religious beliefs should be excused.

I voted for Obama twice, but can understand all these Trump supporters. It seems like many are trying to erase US history and traditions. Sure, some (slavery) are shameful and we have to do everything we can to move last. But to suggest Christmas shouldn't be a holiday even though it has been celebrated in this country since we were founded, is absurd. To try to suggest that we should recognize a holiday that less than 3% celebrate is also absurd. If you don't like the idea that the majority in this country recognize Christmas, the 4th of July, Thanksgiving- traditions that have been followed in this country since we became the USA-'then perhaps the U.S. isn't the best place for you to live. No one should be forced to celebrate a holiday they don't recognize, but we can all be respectful. If a substantial percent recognize a holiday, it makes sense for school to close. Otherwise, let's excuse the the few who do so they can celebrate.

BTW, I had no idea what Diwali was until my then1st grader taught me two years ago. He has an Indian classmate who celebrates it and her parents throw a Diwali celebration for his grade every year at our Episcopal school. He has learned a lot more by their sharing their traditions than he would if the day had been a school holiday. I love that he's learning about other cultures in this way.
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 09:40     Subject: Re:Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Where I work this problem is solved by giving everyone two floating holidays a year in addition to normal vacation time.

The idea is that these can be used to take off on religious holidays so that people are free to take off for theirs without everyone having to take off. But their use is not limited to religious holidays; everyone gets them and can use them as they see fit.

If it was implemented in a way that teachers would have to give sufficient advance notice for using them, why couldn't this work?


Are you talking about adding 2 days of leave for teachers? The cost in sub coverage would be enormous.

Are you talking about adding a requirement for sufficient advanced notice for teachers to use the leave they already have?

Also, what about students?


Yes, people are forgetting the sub issue. There is not an endless supply of subs --MCPS already has to limit personal leave right before Thanksgiving, Winter Break, and Spring Break because there aren't enough subs to go around. Plus, subs are human beings not robots and also want to enjoy religious or cultural holidays with their families. I subbed before earning my certification. My then-husband was Jewish and I would have never subbed on the High Holidays had schools been open. I was too busy being the "Shabbos goy" and doing all the cooking, errands, etc while they were in shul.

To me, one solution is year round schooling with a long winter break between Thanksgiving and New Years. The other is to transition to more online learning for upper ES through HS. A relative teaches in a school system with both blizzard backpacks and a four day school week. The students do a lot of work online. My younger DD certainly could have handled math via a computer as a third grader. Give all students access to instruction via both Google classroom and a paper version. It's due in one week after the holiday or snow day. That is plenty of time to do it.
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 09:28     Subject: Re:Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I read this as they are asking that Diwali be marked on the calendar. Not that school be closed on the day.


Well they won't have any luck in MCPS since no religious holidays are actually recognized as such on the calendar. But MCPS opened the door to having many more holidays "recognized" by closing schools for students on Eid and changing a professional day from August (sorely needed) to September (unneeded). They should have known that they can't choose to recognize one holiday without giving the same acknowledgement to other holidays. Now it's a free for all since they went against their own policy of only closing schools due to operational issues.


MCPS only closed on Eid because it coincided with a Jewish holiday.


It's doesn't coincide with a Jewish holiday


The year that MCPS was closed for Eid, Eid fell on the same day as one of the Jewish High Holy Days. That year was when the request was made to mark Eid on the calendar, and MCPS responded by removing any references to the Jewish High Holy Days or Christmas or Easter from the calendar.

I assume there are also years when they are closed on Eid, because Eid falls on the Jewish or Christian Sabbaths, which the schools take off, and there are years when it falls during Spring, Winter, or Summer Break. Other than that, Eid is a school day in MCPS.

It is no longer a school day in MCPS.


Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 09:28     Subject: Re:Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As a Hindu, can I ask for extra instruction for my kid on Diwali?


what?



You are entitled already in MCPS to the day being an excused absence. For all, excused absences the teacher is legally obligated to allow the student to make up work missed without late penalty. That should suffice for your needs.

What you are not entitled to is forcing the teacher to provide work in advance or provide the exact same learning opportunity/assessment. So if Larla misses a simulation, her teacher may assign a reading with the equivalent information. Or if Larlo missed the written test that has 30 multiple choice items, he maybe given a makeup version that is oral or that has 15 short answer questions.
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 09:17     Subject: Re:Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:As a Hindu, can I ask for extra instruction for my kid on Diwali?


what?

Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 01:45     Subject: Re:Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I read this as they are asking that Diwali be marked on the calendar. Not that school be closed on the day.


Well they won't have any luck in MCPS since no religious holidays are actually recognized as such on the calendar. But MCPS opened the door to having many more holidays "recognized" by closing schools for students on Eid and changing a professional day from August (sorely needed) to September (unneeded). They should have known that they can't choose to recognize one holiday without giving the same acknowledgement to other holidays. Now it's a free for all since they went against their own policy of only closing schools due to operational issues.


MCPS only closed on Eid because it coincided with a Jewish holiday.


It's doesn't coincide with a Jewish holiday


The year that MCPS was closed for Eid, Eid fell on the same day as one of the Jewish High Holy Days. That year was when the request was made to mark Eid on the calendar, and MCPS responded by removing any references to the Jewish High Holy Days or Christmas or Easter from the calendar.

I assume there are also years when they are closed on Eid, because Eid falls on the Jewish or Christian Sabbaths, which the schools take off, and there are years when it falls during Spring, Winter, or Summer Break. Other than that, Eid is a school day in MCPS.
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 01:41     Subject: Re:Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:Where I work this problem is solved by giving everyone two floating holidays a year in addition to normal vacation time.

The idea is that these can be used to take off on religious holidays so that people are free to take off for theirs without everyone having to take off. But their use is not limited to religious holidays; everyone gets them and can use them as they see fit.

If it was implemented in a way that teachers would have to give sufficient advance notice for using them, why couldn't this work?


Are you talking about adding 2 days of leave for teachers? The cost in sub coverage would be enormous.

Are you talking about adding a requirement for sufficient advanced notice for teachers to use the leave they already have?

Also, what about students?
Anonymous
Post 12/31/2015 01:18     Subject: Re:Diwali peition
As a Hindu, can I ask for extra instruction for my kid on Diwali?
Anonymous
Post 12/30/2015 18:56     Subject: Diwali peition
Oh hey, look, it's a religious holiday!

"Easter Monday is observed as a public holiday in many countries and is part of the Easter period. It is a Christian observance and is the day after Easter Sunday."

Why are schools closed by state law for a religious holiday?
Anonymous
Post 12/30/2015 18:54     Subject: Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

83 percent of Americans are Christians; 13 percent have no religion. I'd guess that many in that 13 percent (such as myself) are culturally "Christian" in that we celebrate Christmas in a secular way. So, acting like all religious holidays in this country have the same impact and should be treated the same way is asinine. It really is OK for the US to keep its own traditions.


However, all religious holidays are religious holidays. By definition. So your argument is basically: schools should recognize only recognize religious holidays if lots of people celebrate them.

By the way, do many people celebrate Easter Monday?


Basically yes; it's practical. Easter Monday? I don't think it's really it's own thing, but just a way to add more time off around Easter.


What kind of a holiday is Easter, and how come state law requires schools in Maryland to be closed on the day after Easter?


http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/easter-monday
Anonymous
Post 12/30/2015 18:52     Subject: Re:Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:

I don't mean to be snarky but I genuinely don't know how one goes about recognizing the sensitivities of different groups and beliefs in a way that is fair.



By only closing on religious holidays that are also federal holidays. (There is only one of those.)
Anonymous
Post 12/30/2015 18:51     Subject: Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:I didn't read all 5 pages but I'd like to mention that Howard County, along with other counties, does not recognize any religious holiday on its school calendar, not even Christmas or Easter. If the school systems marked every religious holiday that was requested on their school calendars there would be no room left on the pages for important school system announcements. The school calendar is a poor way to announce the existence of religious holidays. You can find other ways to do this.


I think this makes sense.
Anonymous
Post 12/30/2015 18:46     Subject: Diwali peition
I didn't read all 5 pages but I'd like to mention that Howard County, along with other counties, does not recognize any religious holiday on its school calendar, not even Christmas or Easter. If the school systems marked every religious holiday that was requested on their school calendars there would be no room left on the pages for important school system announcements. The school calendar is a poor way to announce the existence of religious holidays. You can find other ways to do this.
Anonymous
Post 12/30/2015 18:40     Subject: Diwali peition
Anonymous wrote:

I know this one does. I've often said that Christmas would be perfect if they would just keep out all the Jesus stuff.


What you want is to celebrate the winter solstice, except on December 25.