Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools tries to take religious holidays into account when it crafts school calendars. But this year Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, runs from sundown on Wednesday, Sept. 4, to the evening of Friday, Sept. 6. That's the second week of school, so it wasn't practical to schedule teacher work days.
Charlotte's Jewish Community Relations Council recently emailed families to note "the hardship this poses for many of our families with school-aged children." The council forwarded letters from CMS Superintendent Heath Morrison and Union County Superintendent Mary Ellis spelling out how the district will deal with the holiday.
Morrison's letter notes that Jewish students and teachers may be absent to attend services, and asks that families let school officials know in advance about such situations. Schools have been reminded to avoid scheduling field trips, major tests and project deadlines during Jewish holidays, Morrison says.
Both districts say students will be given excused absences to meet religious obligations, and teachers will make reasonable accommodations for makeup work.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, runs from sundown Friday, Sept. 13, to the evening of Saturday, Sept. 14, so it doesn't conflict with school hours.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Rosh Hashanah will be a school day
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16 comments:
Big deal. All religion is made up anyway.
Maybe they could consider private schools like everyone else in CMS.
Then watch those scores drop...
I was told I couldnt give any tests that day. Whatever happend between the seperation of church and state?
Is scientology next on the list of "NO TESTING"? Another example of dumbing down the curriculum to make the ADMINISTRATION look good. Way to go back slap happies.
You basically ignore it and have it a regular day.
Surely the Jewish community recognizes how counterproductive and disruptive it would be for all of CMS to have two days off from school the week after school has begun. It sounds to me like CMS is making reasonable accommodations for Jewish children.
If you post a comment and it doesn't show up right away, don't repost. I've shifted this to moderation -- that is, I've got to clear them before they appear -- and it's a day when I'm out of the office quite a bit. You can thank the folks who seized the opportunity to post offensive comments right off the bat.
What is CMS's policy for Eid al-Adha?
Seperation of Church and State is very effective with Easter and Christmas vacations, regardless what they are called.
Seems like the comments have gotten a bit mean lately.
10 a.m., don't know about that specific holiday, but I know CMS considers the Muslim holidays, too.
School systems have been accommodating religious holidays for decades, as they should.
Nothing new.
The only difference is it's treated generically outside of the classroom. No longer can you acknowledge them by events in the schools/classroom due to school systems being sued over it by atheists and other groups.
MLK day , but not jewish holidays? Maybe a march on BOE by the jewish families is in order. If any Jewish families still attend CMS schools please organize and people will support your holidays. Another smart move by Heath Morrison.
Heath would be fired by this BOE if he scheduled MLK day.
Calendar committee gives the board several options for each school year's calendar and the board votes on which one to use. Heath has nothing to do with it.
YOU SAID IT !
MOrrison Lover
Will teachers STRIKE is they go on 7 years with a loss of salary and benefits ?
Bring on more and every Holiday in the free world to the CMS calendar.
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