Officials: Teachers’ Good Friday requests might close school
By News Staff, The Associated Press
news@abc6.com
School officials in Cranston, Rhode Island, say more than 200 requests to observe Good Friday might force schools to close that day.
School Superintendent Judith Lundsten announced Tuesday that she had warned parents that classes might be canceled. Lundsten says 194 teachers and 41 assistants had asked for the holiday off as of that afternoon.
“They should’ve already made a decision about this,” said concerned parent Amanda Desjarlais. “It should have already been decided.”
Kerri Kelleher, president of the parent advocacy group BASICS (Benefiting All Students In Cranston Schools), told ABC6 News that the students are the ones who are missing out during all of the back-and-forth. “There’s really no situation that the students win,” she said. “They’re either going to be making up another day at the end of the year or, if they have class on Friday, it’s not going to be a conducive day of learning.”
A court order issued Friday says teachers may take the day off if they submit a request no later than April 1.
About 200 teachers filed a lawsuit March 16 after their requests to observe Good Friday were denied. Lundsten has said they were denied because Good Friday has “no required services.”
Requests to observe Jewish holidays were approved. School department spokesman Raymond Votto says 21 employees requested to observe Rosh Hashanah last fall.
Cranston School Committee Chair Janice Ruggieri expressed her thoughts about the situation with the Cranston Teachers’ Alliance in a statement, saying in part that: “We are extremely disappointed that Union leadership would not agree to a solution to this issue without disrupting the school year further.”
Union President Lizbeth Larkin told ABC6 News that the district is “holding parents hostage” by not having a more definitive game plan.
(C) WLNE-TV 2015
