Lawsuit over Portage Northern graduation date settled
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A lawsuit filed by a Portage Public Schools graduate alleging that the district’s scheduling of gradation on a Jewish holiday violated her religious freedoms has been settled.
The deal was finalized Thursday, a release from the graduate’s attorneys said. Under it, the school district agreed to avoid scheduling events on major Jewish holidays and Shabbat, keep a religious holiday calendar and give staff religious sensitivity training. The district also said it would offer more information to staff about its nondiscrimination policy and make sure the school board more quickly receives discrimination complaints, among other things.
“It was important to me that no student would have to face the same challenges that I did. It should not have taken a lawsuit to bring about change, but I’m grateful that the settlement promotes an inclusive environment where all students can feel valued,” Minaleah Koffron, the plaintiff in the case, said in a Friday statement.
She filed the lawsuit last year ahead of her graduation from Portage Northern High School, alleging that district was violating her rights by scheduling graduation on Shavuot, a Jewish holy day that she observes. She tried to force the district to reschedule, though that ultimately did not happen.
Last year, the district’s attorney told News 8 that it was willing to make reasonable accommodations, but that Koffron’s request was instead asking for “a dramatic change of events late in the game.”
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