A Rhode Island union is on the offensive after a school district denied nearly 200 teachers' requests to have Good Friday off work.
The Cranston Teachers' Alliance filed suit against the Cranston School Department last week for denying the Christian employees' requests.
The Cranston School Committee decided last year that the district's 2014-2015 calendar would not provide religious holidays off. The Jewish observances Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were also designated as school days.
"From our perspective, this is about a calendar that was agreed upon and passed by the school committee nine months ago," Superintendent Judith Lundsten said in a statement released Tuesday. "Teachers, teacher assistants, technical assistants and bus aides have the provision in their contracts to request up to two religious observance days.
"The contractual language states, they may be granted the day off if their, 'religious observance obligations require attendance at religious services held during the school day.'"
It is unclear if any employees who requested Good Friday off were granted their request. The union claimed the district's action violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act, and the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act.
"If the Cranston School Committee wants to open schools on important religious holidays, they must honour and respect their employees' religious beliefs," Cranston Teachers' Alliance President Lizbeth Larkin insisted.
"I wish they had not opened school on the Jewish Holy days and Good Friday, but since they made that decision they should not be telling Christians of all denominations that Good Friday is not important enough to merit a religious leave day."
The committee called the lawsuit, filed in Providence Superior Court, "unfortunate."
"It has been a long, difficult winter for our parents, students and staff," committee chair Janice Ruggierei admitted. "We have already accumulated six additional days to our school year. We should be focusing on finishing the school year by meeting our students' academic calendar requirements."
