Religious retreats are inexcusable
Boy faces expulsion after attending religious festival
Lowell Middle School allows five days of excused absence per semester. A student exceeding that limit faces possible expulsion. Only one of those days is available for religious observance.
Ruth Scheidt said Lowell Middle School officials had her 12-year-old son sign a letter last month stating he understood that he could be expelled if he missed another day of school for any reason before the end of the semester in January.
The family had just returned from an out-of-state, eight-day religious observance called the Feast of Tabernacles, celebrated by the United Church of God.
I have a serious problem with attendance requirements and especially with expulsions based upon them. If the student is failing because of poor attendance then there is a problem that must be addressed. If they are not having a problem with their grades and performance then there is absolutely no need to punish the child. These policies never take into consideration the performance of the student and are uniformly intolerant of extra-curricular religious and secular commitments.
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” And there are more aspects of social and intellectual development that are dealt with in the school curriculum. If a student will be out of school then give him the coursework to take with him. Hold him accountable for learning the material instead of holding him liable for sitting at a desk. The purpose of school is to educate students so which is more important - the growth of knowledge or planting a butt in a chair? These policies show a poor focus on what a school’s goals should really be.
Indiana law does not specify whether children are to be excused for religious purposes, [superintendent Alice] Neal said. The Indiana Department of Education holds firmly that it is not a reason to excuse students under Indiana law.
�I�m not arguing whether it should or should not be,� Neal said. �We have to make a decision under existing law.�
…The United Church of God�s attorney, Larry Darden, said such a case was won on appeal by a student against a school in Amarillo, Texas, in 1982.
It should be noted that although the Indiana law does not mandate allowing absences for religious observation it also does not preclude it. Indiana Department of Education’s excuse here is that nobody is forcing them to allow this.
“Lowell Middle School allows five days of excused absence per semester. A student exceeding that limit faces possible expulsion. Only one of those days is available for religious observance.”
“Possible expulsion”: so someone (who?) must decide (on what basis?) whether expulsion should occur.
“Only one day is available for religious observance.” Where does the school board (or the state) get the authority to determine how much time a student may spend in religious activities?
Why are school board policies involved at all? Aren’t the truancy laws sufficient to determine whether a child is spending enough time in school? And if the kid is “skipping” school, how does expelling him correct the problem?
Bottom line is the bottom line. The school doesn’t get money for the kid if his little butt isn’t in school. This Lowell Middle School would be in serious fits if it had a significant Russian Old Believer community like we have in Oregon. They have a couple religious holidays that run for days that they faithfully observe.
Talk about a violation of the 1st amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. This is a slam dunk victory for the family against Lowell Middle School.
I would be more concerned if a child had to have surgery and was expelled because of it. Let’s see my choices are Death or repeating 8th grade?
Just imagine there are a few parents that would actually have to think about that choice because of the stigma of a expelled child.
Last year an Indiana school district got “annoyed” with a girl who had the temerity to take a day off to sing for the President of the United States with her chorus. The results of that incident made the newspapers and the school district heard about it from all over the country. Isn’t the internet great?
What in a typical public school day could be more important than having the opportunity to sing for the President of the United States — learning how to put condoms on bananas — going to a transgender/gay pride assembly — learning how to fill in bubbles for a high-stakes test?
This boy can homeschool under Indiana’s homeschooling law as a private school student. His parents ought to consider it, since observing his religion seems to be more important to them than his attending the local public school.
In High school we had a policy that allowed for 8 exused absences. It was my senior year, my grandfather was dieng of cancer and he and my grandmother were living with us. I kept a pager on me as I lived just a mile or so from the school. My mother was a letter carrier for the post office so it is hard ot get a hold of her and my grand mother couldnt drive. I missed a day or so for that then he died we missed a few days for that. I had to attend court for a couple days for an assault I had whitnessed. my 9th was for a trip to the emergancy room I had developed an allergy to penicillin. My head was the size of watermelon my my ears were so swollen that I could barley hear. so of course I wasnt going to school that day. (The reaction happened about 11pm I got out of the hospital around 5 am) So a few weeks later the school got there attendace board to gether to tell me that I would not be graduating. My mother had a feild day with them. after listing to her scream and rant and tell them where they could shove there attendance pollicies. and just what she thought of them, they desided against holding me another year. May be they should try it. It was a hell of good time to watch.
Dear Travis:
Your story of missed days is understandable.
But perhaps if you had been able to be in school, your spelling would be better.
Huh! You mean I reely do have bad spelling. Hear I all ways thought thoes Teechers where just picking on me.