Baltimore Public Schools May Hold Classes On High Holidays

By JTA October 11, 2017

(JTA) — Baltimore County Public Schools are considering removing two Jewish holidays from the school calendar.

The school district, trying to find a way to get enough class hours into the yearly schedule to meet new state regulations, is considering holding classes on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Schools in the district have been closed on those days for the last two decades.

Parents and community leaders attended a hearing on the issue with the school board on Tuesday night. A vote is scheduled for Oct. 24.

Two calendars are being presented – one with the holidays off and one with classes scheduled on the holidays. The calendar committee, made up of staff, parents and community members, has recommended the calendar that keeps schools open, according to the Baltimore Sun.

It is not known exactly how many Jewish students are in the schools.

The Baltimore Jewish Council told the school board, however, that at least 1,500 teachers in the school district are Jewish and that many would chose to stay home for the holidays, leading to the need to hire a large amount of substitute teachers at a cost of hundreds of thousands to a million dollars, and potentially creating a dangerous student-to-teacher ratio on those days. The council told the school board that it would like to see the schools remained closed on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

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