Members of a local Hindu center are petitioning Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to move a teacher professional day to the day of Diwali, a holiday celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, so students who practice those religions don’t miss a day of classes.
“In recognition of the tens of thousands of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists in this county, we ask that you please vote to approve the observance of Diwali as a school holiday,” reads a letter to the county’s Board of Education and Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers.
Diwali, known as the Festival of Lights, is one of the most important holidays in Hinduism and is celebrated also by Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. It is set to fall on the weekend in 2016 and 2017 but during the week in 2018.
Members of the Chinmaya Misson, a Hindu organization with a center in Silver Spring, and Dr. Murali Balaji, director of education and curriculum reform for the Hindu America Foundation, are asking the school board to establish Diwali as an official holiday for the 2017-2018 school calendar.
The request comes almost two months after the school board voted 6-2 to move a teacher professional day to Sept. 12—the potential day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Ahda—to accommodate Muslim students in the school system.
That move came after years of advocacy by Muslims in the county who pushed for an off day on Eid al-Adha, pointing to the closure of schools for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and a number of Christian holidays.
In 2014, the school board refused to close schools for Eid al-Adha, instead deciding to remove all references to religious holidays from its calendar.
The school system cited legal precedent, claiming it’s not allowed to close schools simply because of a religious holiday, but can do so if the celebration of that religious holiday means the school system’s normal operations would be disrupted by the absence of students or staff.
That stance changed slightly in November, when the board moved the teacher professional day—an off day for students but a work day for teachers—to Sept. 12 in case Eid al-Adha falls on that day.
“This board, to be quite honest, needs to step up and make a decision to step into the fray and say what are we going to do or not going to do,” said board member Chris Barclay, who introduced the idea of moving the teacher professional day during the board’s Nov. 10 meeting.
“I’m really concerned that we are putting ourselves in a place that we give lip service to the diversity that we have in this incredible community that we live in and serve,” Barclay said.
At the board’s Dec. 8 meeting, two speakers during the public comment session asked that the school system make a similar accommodation for Diwali.
“If Diwali is declared as a school holiday, this gives the opportunity to our children, temples can organize their programs for the children and their families and it will not only have a positive impact on the minds of the Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist children, but it will have an impact on the community at large,” said Nanik Lahori, one of the founders of the local Chinmaya Mission.
He said there are now more than 700 children who take part in the mission’s weekend educational program.
Another speaker questioned whether the board was violating its own stated policy on religious holidays.
“You know you cannot honor religions but you seem to be doing just that by moving a precious professional day to a religious holiday without any criteria for doing so,” Ellen Paul said. “It seems this attempt to honor diversity in this way looks like honoring religion, which you said you cannot and will not do.”
A week later, as the board finalized the school system’s 2016-2017 calendar, member Phil Kauffman said he’s not surprised that another religious group is now asking for teacher professional days on a religious holiday.
Kauffman and Patricia O’Neill were the two board members who voted against moving the teacher professional day to accommodate Eid al-Adha.
“I think the message that went out was that we’re now closing for religious holidays, even if we’re doing it with a professional day,” Kauffman said during the Dec. 14 board meeting. “I imagine we’ll be hearing requests for closing on the Lunar New Year in the future.”
The Chinmaya Mission is also petitioning the Howard County Board of Education to designate a school holiday on Diwali.
The school board there is set to vote in January on two proposals for its school calendar going forward, including one that would open schools on the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur for the first time since 1979.
