MCPS released new Guidelines for Respecting Religious Diversity this summer, aiming to protect students’ freedom to exercise their religion during school while avoiding publicly endorsing a certain religion.
The Guidelines intend to make students more comfortable practicing their religion by giving concrete rules and codes of conduct that explicitly permit them to participate in religious activities, including praying in school and wearing clothes demonstrating their religion. Before the guidelines, these rights were just assumed.
The Montgomery County Executive’s Faith Community Working Group (FCWG), composed of an ethnically diverse group of representatives, created the guidelines with the support of the Board of Education, the Office of Engagement and the county Social Studies department.
Rabbi Batya Steinlauf, the co-chair of the FCWG, first came across the idea to create guidelines two years ago when a friend suggested that MCPS should excuse absences for religious holidays. Steinlauf thought this policy was already in place, but when she looked into it, she found no official rule.
The guideline release also follows requests last year to have schools close on Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.
MCPS closes on Easter, Christmas, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because high absence rates disrupt schools’ operation. Past absence rates at Eid al-Adha have not been high enough to warrant school closings.
The County Liaison to the Faith Community and FCWG member Reverend Mansfield Kaseman, Co-Chair Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi and Steinlauf met with Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers to begin crafting the official guidelines.
Though the guidelines do not give all MCPS students all religious holidays off, they do excuse students from the days that they miss due to religion.
However, some students believe that MCPS still needs to go beyond these guidelines and put greater measures in place, and that these guidelines don’t go far enough.
“I don’t think the guidelines will make a difference,” sophomore Ferzam Mohammad said. “Even though the days I miss are excused, I’ll still have to skip school and get behind on work when I celebrate holidays not built into the calendar.”
Despite claims that MCPS needs to do more, the FCWG hopes to be takings steps toward more religious tolerance within MCPS.
“No student wants to feel that they will be made uncomfortable because of their religious affiliation or commitments, and teachers and administrations want to be as understanding and helpful as possible,” Steinlauf said. “We all deserve to to feel respected and valued for who we really are.”
Click here to view the guidelines.
