By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News
There won’t be another Good Friday lawsuit in Cranston next year — at least not over getting the day off.
The Cranston School Committee approved a new calendar for the 2015-2016 school year this week that reinstates the day off for Good Friday, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. This year, the district held classes on the holidays, but the teachers union sued after several teachers were denied Good Friday off for religious observances. The district still held school despite more than 200 teachers taking the day off.
Cranston School Committee Chairwoman Janice Ruggieri said the lack of teachers and students in school on Good Friday impacted their decision this week.
“We determined that based on the calendar survey results and the number of staff and students that were not in school on the Good Friday holiday that it would make sense to reinstate Good Friday as a day off,” wrote Ruggieri in an email.
Cranston Superintendent Judith Lundsten submitted several different calendars for the committee’s approval.
“At the school committee’s request the Superintendent prepared four different calendars,” wrote Raymond Votto, Chief Operating Officer of Cranston Public Schools in an email. “The different scenarios were created based upon several factors including a parent survey conducted during the fall. The committee discussed all four at their April 8th work session and at the Monday meeting adopted the…calendar.”
Ruggieri said surveys found that a majority of the community wanted the holidays to be put back in, though they did reduce the time off for Rosh Hashanah to one day.
RELATED:
