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Review of school calendar to embrace student diversity

Muslims seek the same type of recognition that has long been extended to agricultural events and Christian holidays.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published March 7, 2005

TAMPA - Most public schools in east Hillsborough County are closed today. Strawberries have sidelined academics.

The day off for the Florida Strawberry Festival marks a spring ritual for two dozen schools. The rest took a holiday for the state fair last month.

But traditions change. The Islamic community is seeking the same recognition that Hillsborough schools grant to festivals - and to Christians, Jews, veterans and admirers of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

That request has cracked open the entire calendar to debate.

The traditional school calendar, geared to agricultural events and Christian holidays, is being scrutinized for relevance in a changing society. If the Friday before Easter merits a day off, why not Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday? Do city kids really need a day off to visit the state fair, or Plant City a break for the Strawberry Festival?

How does a diverse community decide?

"Society is moving ahead, but our school calendars haven't," said Charles Ballinger, executive director emeritus for the National Association for Year-Round Education in San Diego, which would shorten summer breaks once essential to farming.

The case for change started in Brandon's suburbs, where Hillsborough's past is meeting its future.

Earlier this school year, Sarah Zaki came home from FishHawk Creek Elementary almost in tears. Awards were given out that day for students with perfect attendance, but she wasn't among them.

The fifth-grader had been recorded absent on Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan's month of fasting. Only 10, she knew something was wrong.

"When I missed school for Eid, it's supposed to be marked as a religious holiday," Sarah remembered. "It was really sad that day."

Sarah's mother resolved the matter with the school. The fifth-grader received her certificate.

But the situation reminded the Zakis that the world often forgets holidays that pass without splashy store displays.

Even though Hillsborough schools are not supposed to schedule exams or events on religious holidays and absences are excused, Sarah's parents wanted more.

Her mother, Joan Mulrennan Zaki, joined the district's calendar committee, hoping to coordinate days off school with the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of a yearly pilgrimage to Mecca.

After all, the Zakis noted, students don't have to attend school on Good Friday, two days before Easter. In recent years, the district has planned a day off school to coincide with Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur, the Jewish high holidays.

"We're not trying to step on anybody's toes," Zaki said. She and supporters are not seeking to take holidays from another group. "We're one of the major monotheistic religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. People always forget the Islam."

There are about 30,000 Muslims in the Tampa Bay area. Most live in Hillsborough County, according to the Counsel on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

"Hillsborough County has changed drastically from what it used to be," said Ahmed Bedier, director for CAIR in Central Florida, describing his view this way: "It would be like asking Christians: Would you prefer to have Strawberry Festival day, or Christmas off? That's what you're really asking Muslims to decide."

In January, the School Board denied the Muslim community's request for the 2005-06 school year. But it directed school officials to alert principals to Muslim holidays. The board agreed to reconsider the Muslim request for the following year.

Officials also ordered the calendar committee back to the drawing board. They would consider the school year a blank slate.

What holidays merit days off school? How about a floating holiday?

"Just don't tell me it's because we've always done it," said School Board member Carol Kurdell, singling out the state fair holiday. "If you're going to look at the religious holidays, why can't you extend that thought process and consider the fair day?"

Overhauling the school calendar collides with competing interests. For starters, the school year tracks agricultural seasons. Religion can't be ignored.

Winter break always includes Christmas. Easter often falls around spring break. Some school systems with large Jewish and Muslim populations grant days off for their holidays. But they remain the exception, rather than the rule.

School calendars can reveal as much about the past as the present. Schools in California are allowed to close in March to recognize Cesar Chavez, a leader in the farm labor movement. Hawaiian schools take a holiday in June for King Kamehameha Day to honor the leader who unified the islands.

Florida has its share of quirky holidays. Osceola County takes a day off for the rodeo. For years, Citrus County schools timed a day off with a county fair in late March. But recently, state testing schedules have ensured the fair almost always falls during spring break.

Hillsborough's fair and strawberry holidays are rooted in a similar heritage. Decades ago, the district practically closed for a week that included Gasparilla and the state fair. Until the late 1950s, a handful of east Hillsborough schools ran from March to December, so children could help harvest strawberries in the fields.

Supporters argue that today's holidays remain relevant.

"It does have a very significant impact on the state fair," said Chuck Pesano, executive director of the Florida State Fair Authority. He said fair day for students on Feb. 21 brought the fair's highest attendance on that day in 10 years.

The Strawberry Festival looms even larger in Plant City, where today's parades are an annual highlight. But should they sideline academics? How do religious observances compare?

Pinellas County schools do not close for religious holidays. Instead, the calendar lists 10 "special observance days," including Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Good Friday and Eastern Orthodox Holy Friday. Students can take the day off by giving notice. Teachers cannot schedule major tests.

Islamic holidays are not on the list this school year. After they were requested, Pinellas has added Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to the 2005-06 calendar.

Hillsborough took a different approach. Technically, there are no religious holidays. But officials strategically place "non-student/non-teacher days" on religious dates likely to see high absences, skirting a constitutional prohibition.

In 2001, a non-school day was awarded for Yom Kippur, which the Jewish community had requested for years. High absenteeism among students and teachers was a factor, school officials said.

Now Jewish leaders support a day for Muslims.

"We are not a homogeneous nation," said Rabbi Robert Goodman, who knows the Zaki family through the Brandon Interfaith Coalition. Yet making changes is difficult because every holiday has supporters. Adding more lengthens the school year, which no one wants.

Several years ago, Hillsborough considered removing the Veterans Day holiday. Veterans protested loudly, officials said, and the holiday stayed.

"You're never, ever going to satisfy everybody," said Ken Otero, an assistant superintendent for administration and calendar committee co-chairman.

In the coming weeks, his committee will reconvene.

Yet for all the talk, no one is betting that today is the last that Hillsborough cancels school for the Strawberry Festival.

"The Strawberry Festival is still a very big deal in that part of the community," said the School Board's Kurdell. "I'd probably have riots on my hands over that one."

--Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Letitia Stein can be reached at 661-2443 or lstein@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 7, 2005, 01:57:13]