Rochester Public Schools grants teachers time off for holidays not recognized by the district calendar

Aug. 18—ROCHESTER — As a Jewish public school teacher, Simon Glaser always knew how he would spend his two personal days off a year: Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

There weren't many other options, after all. Although teachers get time off for the summer and during designated breaks, they're limited in the days they can take off outside those granted by the school district calendar. But as a practicing Jew, Glaser has personal commitments he isn't able to just put aside.

"The thing about Judaism is these religious observances really are obligations. They're not just family celebrations," Glaser said. "For Jews, we're actually violating a commandment if we work on those days."

The need to spend their only discretionary time off on religious holidays will soon change. Rochester Public Schools and the district's teachers union, the Rochester Education Association, have come to an agreement, allowing teachers time off for holidays not recognized by the school district's calendar. Glaser is part of the union's negotiating team that helped bring the provision to fruition.

The contract between the school district and the teachers union covers two-year periods, with the next period beginning with the 2023-2024 school year. According to Rochester Education Association President Vince Wagner, the district's teachers have been advocating for time off for religious holidays for years. It finally became a possibility with the new RPS administration.

The provision doesn't become official until later in the process when the contract is approved overall.

Teachers normally would have 10 sick days. Per the agreement, they will be able to use three of those days for religious holiday observances.

The language of the agreement is a bit nuanced and doesn't necessarily guarantee teachers will have access to those days. According to the agreement, 3% of the teaching staff district-wide can be excused on any given day for the combined reasons of religious holidays, personal days, and flex time.

Nonetheless, advocates of the issue see it as a win for teachers.

"For me, it's a very big deal," Glaser said. "What it means is that I feel seen, really, in a way I haven't before."

Like Glaser, Gage Elementary School teacher Rajaa Ali said the new development is a welcome change. As a Muslim, she too would have to use her personal days for religious holidays, or simply plan around them.

While grateful for the change, Ali said she would like to see it as a first step. Considering the religious days cut into sick time under the proposed agreement, she said it could be an issue for parents who need to use sick time for more than just themselves.

"What I'd like to see is maybe some of our religious holidays on our academic calendar," Ali said. "I'm hopeful that's what we could do in the future."

Although the recent agreement between the district and the union only pertains to teachers, students have advocated for changes before too. In 2021, then-Mayo High School student

Yasmin Ali spoke with Rochester's state legislators

about supporting a religious holiday bill.

Yasmin Ali emphasized that Christmas always takes place during the winter break for public schools. She also explained that Easter often falls on a weekend that bookends spring break.

According to School Board Chairwoman Cathy Nathan, the Rochester School Board will discuss the issue of religious holidays in 2024 in preparation for establishing the district's 2025-26 calendar. However, the board has not yet determined the exact date for that discussion.

Rochester would not be the first Minnesota school district to add non-Christian holidays to its calendar. According to a 2022 report from the Sahan Journal, which covers immigrant and minority communities in Minnesota, the school districts of Minneapolis, Hopkins, Moorhead, and Mankato now include the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr on their calendars.

"Christians get Christian holidays off school," Yasmin Ali said at the time she spoke with the legislators. "But I have to choose between my faith or missing school and falling behind."