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No religious holidays in school plan

Critics accused the Hillsborough County School Board of being anti-religion when it supported a similar recommendation last year.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published September 28, 2006

TAMPA - For the second straight year, a committee of parents, students and school district employees is recommending a Hillsborough school calendar that does not recognize religious holidays.

The School Board supported a similar calendar last year but had to backtrack after critics accused the district of being anti-religion. Board member Candy Olson said Wednesday she hoped the controversy - which reverberated nationally - would not recur.

"They've taken a logical approach to a very emotional issue," said Olson, who said she has seen more cars at the mall than at church on Good Fridays. "We'll just have to have the conversation again."

The 38-member committee focused on meeting the desires of the vast majority of parents who said in a survey that maximizing instruction time is the primary purpose of the school calendar.

That meant setting winter break after first semester exams, putting spring vacation after FCAT testing and generally limiting time off in any days leading up to big tests.

Federal holidays, which many parents take off from work, got preference over religious holidays. Committee members acknowledged the importance of religious holidays, but said how they are observed should remain a matter of personal choice.

The committee stressed, however, that no major testing should take place on major religious holidays. That already is part of county policy.

"I am pleased to be able to present to the instructional division a calendar that focuses on instruction," committee chairwoman Debi Veranth said after Wednesday's meeting at Chamberlain High School.

School district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe cautioned the board that its proposal mirrored the one that put Hillsborough County in the cross hairs of conservative pundits a year ago.

"If the Fox News people try to make this an issue again, we have to stand behind the School Board," Cobbe said.

Committee members said they had considered the potential for controversy but chose to put academics first.

Members also noted that they were hampered by a new state law mandating that classes not begin earlier than two weeks before Labor Day, or Aug. 20 of next year. To meet that law and still put winter break after final exams - as students and teachers prefer - the group had two options.

One, proposed by parent Sherman Dorn, would have started vacation in mid January. He said such a calendar would allow the district to give the major monotheistic religions their key holidays off and still have students complete enough class days for an acceptable semester.

The idea garnered only token support. Most committee members preferred to have winter break coincide with Christmas and New Year's Day. But that meant limiting student days off during the first semester to three.

They chose Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving. The day before Thanksgiving fell victim to the squeeze.

Veterans Day fell on a weekend, putting off that discussion for a future committee.

Second semester, which had fewer restrictions, proved easier to arrange.

The committee decided to give off Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Memorial Day. It merged State Fair day with Presidents Day and gave it to all students, and also extended Strawberry Festival Day to all students.

A potential flash point arose with the discussion of Good Friday, which the district traditionally has taken off. Representatives of Jewish and Muslim groups were ready to call for reconsideration of the calendar if the committee closed school on Good Friday, a move supported by three-quarters of the parents who were surveyed.

The FCAT saved the committee from that quandary. The test is scheduled to run through Good Friday in 2008, making it impossible to cancel school. That took the wind out of a move to give a day off after Easter, too.

After the meeting ended, members of the minority religious groups deemed the outcome fair for all.

"I just think it's sad they had to take out some of the recognized religious holidays that were established," said Joan Zaki, a parent who last year pressed to add Muslim holidays to the calendar. "If these religious holidays came in the second semester, it would have been a piece of cake."

Jon Ellis, a parent representing the Jewish Federation, said he thought the Jewish community could live with losing its day off for Yom Kippur.

"If you're not recognizing any religious holidays, a secular calendar is acceptable," he said.

The calendar next goes to superintendent MaryEllen Elia and her staff, who might make changes before taking it to the School Board. No date has been set for a School Board debate or vote.

Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at solochek@sptimes.com or 813 269-5304.

[Last modified September 28, 2006, 00:37:39]