Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Schools

Hillsborough commission urges schools to keep holidays

Commissioner Brian Blair, who took his views on national TV, will appear before the School Board on Tuesday.

By BILL VARIAN and MELANIE AVE
Published November 3, 2005

TAMPA - Hillsborough Commissioner Brian Blair said a recent School Board decision to drop vacation days tied to Christian and Jewish holidays was a vote to "abandon our heritage."

He won support from five fellow commissioners Wednesday to urge the School Board to reverse itself.

"Commissioners and fellow Americans: Don't let them take this from us," Blair implored.

The other commissioners said nothing to explain the reason they supported the request. Commissioner Kathy Castor was out of the chambers during the vote but said later she would likely have opposed Blair's motion, calling it an "overreach."

Blair, who appeared on the national Fox News Channel program The O'Reilly Factor last week to express his opposition to the district decision, again held court before television cameras Wednesday after the vote. Acknowledging that other school districts have also cut holidays, Blair blamed a small minority of people for trying to erode America's Judeo-Christian tradition.

"I think it's the far left that you're talking about right now and that's part of America's problem," Blair said. "Why are so (few) affecting so many in an adverse way?"

Blair was protesting a vote last week by the Hillsborough School Board changing its calendar for next year to no longer tie vacation days to Good Friday, Yom Kippur and the day after Easter. The vote came in response to a year-old request from a Muslim group that had asked the district to observe the end of Ramadan, known as Eid ul-Fitr.

With Fox host Bill O'Reilly taking on the issue last week, the discussion has brought national attention. District board members have received dozens of e-mails from county residents, many opposing the decision, several after the Fox broadcast.

School Board Chairwoman Candy Olson, who voted for the change, said she will listen to Blair's request when he appears before the board Tuesday. She noted that the district calendar is similar to that of the county and federal government.

District officials emphasized that their policy allows parents to take children out of school without penalty on various specified religious holidays, including each of the ones in question.

This year, most school districts in Florida are closed for Good Friday but few of them give time off for the Jewish Yom Kippur or the Muslim Eid al-Fitr.

A review of school calendars shows that most - 43 of the 67 Florida counties - have no school on Good Friday this year. In 13 cases, spring breaks include that day.

At least 10 districts - including Citrus, Hernando and Hillsborough - give students the Monday after Easter.

In the Tampa Bay area, Pinellas County is the only district that does not give vacation time on any religious holiday other than Christmas.

[Last modified November 3, 2005, 01:05:05]