I have not had any children attending Harvard schools for a few years now, but I have unpleasant memories of the school holiday policy in place at the time, much like the currently proposed school policy of not closing schools on religious holidays. The memories are about “I forgot,” “That’s the policy,” or “There is nothing I/we can do about it”—the excuses spoken countless times when my boys missed a big test, the big game, or a school social event because it was scheduled on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, or maybe because they missed practice the day before the big game. Only with a lot of parental caring did the boys grow up without feeling somehow stigmatized that they are Jewish.
If the proposed school holiday policy goes into force, it needs ample advance publicity of religious holidays to all school teachers, coaches, administrators, and volunteers. It also needs other safeguards in place to ensure that it does not become discriminatory as it once was. And simply noting the days in the school calendar is not enough.
Ben Myers
Westcott Road
