Jersey City School Board Meeting Gets Heated During Debate Over Closing for Muslim Holiday

[FrodosPet]

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Jersey-City-Schools-Meeting-Proposal-Close-Muslim-Holiday-September-24-328135831.html

By Brian Thompson

A Jersey City school board meeting Thursday to vote on whether to close for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on Sept. 24 turned contentious before the board ultimately decided not to close schools next week.

The Jersey City Board of Education had originally proposed to close schools next Thursday so that Muslim students could observe the holiday, and the City Council unanimously supported it a week ago. The academic year would have extended one day to June 23, 2016 as a result.

But during the nearly four hours of debate at the board meeting Thursday, some of the Jewish faith said they felt they were being discriminated against because they weren't getting their own school days off for holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

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"Doing this at this point on six days notice for this upcoming holiday is going to cause undue hardship on 5,000 to 10,000 people who are going to have to scramble to get coverage for their children," said board member Gerald Lyons.

~ snip ~

[DonCoquixote]

1. info

There is a very large Jewish pop in JC, and when I went o school, we did get yom kippur and Rosh hashana off. What would work is a set series of days, which the parents could define, and then make sure the kid gets their homework done.

[msongs]

2. schools should not close for ANY religious holidays. taking the day off is a personal matter nt

[FrodosPet]

3. Absolutely

There should not be a penalty for any child observing their holidays, but the government needs to observe the 1st Amendment.

[phylny]

4. I don't mind schools taking off for religious holidays.

I grew up on Long Island, and we were routinely closed for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I think it was mainly because we had many Jewish teachers and about a third of the student body might have been Jewish as well.

I think for many districts, it's a funding issue because they don't get paid when a student is absent.

When I worked in Manhattan, my Irish Catholic boss from the Midwest was very pleased when he discovered the wonder of Jewish holidays. He called them the "Feast of Immediate Seating" because our Jewish citizens would leave work early or not be at work, and the subways were always less crowded

[smirkymonkey]

5. "Feast of Immediate Seating"! I like that!

LOL!

I do remember when I lived in Manhattan, how much less crowded everything was on the Jewish Holy days. Here in Boston, I don't think the Jewish population is large enough to make a noticeable difference.