NJ schools allow for pagan religious holidays

[Slytovhand]

Hey gang - long time, no see :)

I came across this from my God of the Month club.

NJ now allows kids to be absent from school on the 8 pagan high-holy days (such as today! :D).

What interested me in the link was that they were allowed off for LRH's birthday (founder of Scientology), but the oldest religious beliefs on the planet didn't have that privilege!*


Linky... (http://www.examiner.com/x-26373-Domestic-Witchery-Examiner~y2010m3d17-New-Jersey-State-Board-of-Education-approves-PaganWiccan-holidays-for-the-20102011-school-year?cid=email-this-article)


*no, not the Wiccan... I was referring to stuff that's been around for at least 6000 years - note, for example, Stonehenge that marks the Solstices.

[BookstoreEscapee]

That's cool, I hadn't heard of this.

[Greenday]

Considering I actually know quite a few pagans from back home, I'm not too surprised. We already get Christian and Jewish holidays. Why not other religions?

[crashhelmet]

I'm glad to see the state co-operated in all of this and made the necessary changes. The only thing that bothered me reading this was the lack of support she got from other Pagans.

Many responded back to her that it was "not my problem" as they didn't have kids.

Makes you wonder how many other groups fighting for equality have a harder fight because of similar attitudes.

CH

[elsporko]

Considering I actually know quite a few pagans from back home, I'm not too surprised. We already get Christian and Jewish holidays. Why not other religions?


The only reason a holiday should be taken off is if enough students will not be present at school to cause trouble. If every holiday is taken off kids will never be in school. It makes no sense to have random Pagan holiday off if no kids in the school celebrate it but if 90% of the kids will be absent on Thanksgiving then of course school shouldn't be in session.

[Greenday]

The only reason a holiday should be taken off is if enough students will not be present at school to cause trouble. If every holiday is taken off kids will never be in school. It makes no sense to have random Pagan holiday off if no kids in the school celebrate it but if 90% of the kids will be absent on Thanksgiving then of course school shouldn't be in session.

When most kids are taking a Christian holiday because they are celebrating something that actually has to do with their religion, instead of just getting presents, chocolate, and coloring eggs, get back to me on why we should have Christian holidays off either.

[crashhelmet]

What Christian holidays do public school students get off?

Easter falls on a Sunday which is already a no school day as it is. Christmas? Yes, it might fall on what would normally be a school day, but it also falls in a 2 week period that students have off, so it doesn't really count.

The only time I got Good Friday off was when Spring Break would fall right before Easter. I never got Ash Wednesday, All Saints Day, or any other religious holiday off when I was in a public school.

The issue at hand here is whether or not the parents decide to keep their kids out of school because of a holiday. I would assume that if a parent is keeping their child out of school, they're going to be doing something that falls within the tradition(s) of that holiday.

CH

[AdminAssistant]

I can't speak for K-12, but in college we're supposed to excuse any absence that has to do with religious observance. :shrug:

[Fryk]

It would help me if someone could tell me which pagan holidays they're getting off.

[Stormraven]

Well, starting from January, you'll have Imbolc (Groundhog Day in the US), Ostara - comparable to Easter, Beltane (May 1st). If the school year goes well into June, you'll have Midsummer. Then you have Lughnassa - August 1, which probably doesn't affect any US schools, Mabon, in September (Autumnal Equinox), Samhain (Halloween) and Yule (Christmas).

[McDreidel09]

What Christian holidays do public school students get off?

Where I am from, we get extended breaks around those holidays. We have "April Break", which officially starts on Good Friday and school is back in session the Tuesday after Easter Sunday. That two to four week break during the winter is centered around Christmas and New Year (while not a Christian holiday, I still had to say it). Ash Wednesday, you can leave school to go get ashes on your forehead.

Elsporko, I don't think they wanted the schools to close down for Pagan holidays. I think they want to be able to pull their kids out in order to celebrate the holiday and have it recognized as a religious observance, rather than just some excused absence.

Admin, my college works that way too. Just let the prof know ahead of time that you will be taking a certain day off for religious observance and they will let you have an excused absence.

[elsporko]

When most kids are taking a Christian holiday because they are celebrating something that actually has to do with their religion, instead of just getting presents, chocolate, and coloring eggs, get back to me on why we should have Christian holidays off either.


It has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with how many students will be in school. There has a to be a certain percantage of students present for a school day to count, otherwise it is considered a snow day. If a school is 90% Christian and takes off Christian holidays then it makes no sense to be in school that day, just like if a school were to be 90% Pagan it makes no day for them to be in session on a day that Pagans will not be present.

[crashhelmet]

Where I am from, we get extended breaks around those holidays. We have "April Break", which officially starts on Good Friday and school is back in session the Tuesday after Easter Sunday. That two to four week break during the winter is centered around Christmas and New Year (while not a Christian holiday, I still had to say it). Ash Wednesday, you can leave school to go get ashes on your forehead.

Which is what my point was. Schools were never closed because it was a Christian holiday. Breaks might have been scheduled around them, but that's as close as you got.

However, if a parent wanted to hold their student out of school for a religious reason, it would be justified. In this case, I'm glad that the same privileges are being offered to the Pagans.

CH

[Fryk]

Hmmm... so six, in all likelyhood. That doesn't sound too bad.

[draggar]

Wait, this is New Jersey? I spent a few years living there and politics were so bass ackwards (Meghan's Law was about to be nullified to protect the pedophiles). Are they really starting to think forward? First they allow medical marijuana and now this?

Good job, NJ!

What Christian holidays do public school students get off?

My school wasn't closed on Christian holidays but if a student needed, say Good Friday or Ash Wednesday off for religious purposes, it was considered a "documented" absense (an absense that really didn't count as an absense).

I think this would be like what is being allowed for Pagan holidays in NJ. My only concern is some students will claim to be Muslim / Christian / Jewish / Pagan just go get all the days off - and if they're refused they can claim that's a breach of their freedom of religion. :(

[BookstoreEscapee]

I think this would be like what is being allowed for Pagan holidays in NJ. My only concern is some students will claim to be Muslim / Christian / Jewish / Pagan just go get all the days off - and if they're refused they can claim that's a breach of their freedom of religion. :(

You're correct. They're not going to close school, but the students taking off for the holiday will not have to count it towards their "excused" absences (so then they don't end up going to school sick or something because they used up their absences on their religious holidays).

As for your second part, you'd have to have a note from your parent/guardian, and unless you're a really crappy parent, you're not likely to let your kids get away with that.

[Pagan]

Hey gang - long time, no see :)

Long time no....type?! :p

Considering I actually know quite a few pagans from back home, I'm not too surprised. We already get Christian and Jewish holidays. Why not other religions?

You got Jewish holidays?

Makes you wonder how many other groups fighting for equality have a harder fight because of similar attitudes.

Reminds me of this:

They cam firstfor the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up


Elsporko, I don't think they wanted the schools to close down for Pagan holidays. I think they want to be able to pull their kids out in order to celebrate the holiday and have it recognized as a religious observance, rather than just some excused absence.

That's what I was going to say.

It has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with how many students will be in school. There has a to be a certain percantage of students present for a school day to count, otherwise it is considered a snow day. If a school is 90% Christian and takes off Christian holidays then it makes no sense to be in school that day, just like if a school were to be 90% Pagan it makes no day for them to be in session on a day that Pagans will not be present.

Again, they're not talking about shutting down the whole school for a handful of kids. Just that if the parents do take them out, they'll have an excused absence.

Like when I was in junior high. I got an excused absence when my parents took me out of school to go out to WSMR to see the Columbia. It wasn't something that most of the students were going to be gone, but only a handful of us.

[fumblebee]

Our schools are closed for Good Friday and elementary and secondary schools are closed for "Easter Monday" in University, we still had Good Friday, but we still had classes Easter Monday. Once I was in University, the school closed for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and the First day of Passover. Any student of any other religion was granted an excused absence for their Holy days but the school continued.

[Ladeeda]

Now, what I want is the option to GO to school on holidays I don't celebrate.

Thanksgiving, President's Day, the OMG We're A State Now day, etc.

[AdminAssistant]

Now, what I want is the option to GO to school on holidays I don't celebrate.

The problem with having that option is that it requires for both teachers and staff to be there, regardless of whether they celebrate that holiday or not. Since the majority of people do celebrate Thanksgiving, it makes sense to simply close campus for that day (or several days, as it usually happens). Fewer people celebrate Rosh Hashannah, so it makes sense to keep campus open, but allow all of those who celebrate that day to miss school without ramifications.

[Hobbs]

Since the majority of people do celebrate Thanksgiving...

Even if you don't celebrate it, it's a national holiday. You don't have to do anything for it.

[AdminAssistant]

Even if you don't celebrate it, it's a national holiday. You don't have to do anything for it.

That wasn't the best example. I was just pointing out that when the vast majority of people celebrate a holiday, then it makes sense for a school or business to close its doors.