Here we go again. Next year’s school calendar has been in the news, again, and that’s never good. Sure enough, Good Friday is officially a school day in Hillsborough County in 2010 and 2011.
Good luck.
To give credit where it’s deserved, the Hillsborough County School Board did the principled thing. And that is to not declare a religious-observance day a secular holiday. That’s because it shouldn’t be. It’s also because it leaves the school board open to similar claims from other faiths – and maybe even the formally faithless – who would, understandably, all want their designated religious holidays too.
But the principled thing is also the problematic thing. Last time Good Friday was a school day, students, teachers and bus drivers stayed away in droves. It created safety as well as curricular issues. It was also an educational travesty. And it would likely happen again.
So, the pragmatic thing is the only solution. Fortuitously enough, there’s regional precedent. Some neighboring districts are doing something eminently sensible. They will adjust accordingly, and Good Friday will just have to be part of spring break. Period.
At least that enforces the non-travesty principle.