School on Good Friday in Cranston? Maybe, Maybe Not

The Holiest day for Christians has the Cranston school community saying “holy cow” as the potential for mass teacher absences could cause Superintendent Judith Lundsten to cancel school on Good Friday this year.

But school could still be in session, so Lundsten, in a message to parents, said “at this juncture we want parents to be prepared for both possibilities.”

Parents have been wondering for days what will happen on Friday ever since the Cranston Teachers’ Alliance, the teachers’ union, filed suit against the district alleging breach of contract and discrimination after about 200 teachers leave requests were denied.

On Monday, both sides reached an agreement allowing teachers to observe Good Friday as a “religious observation day” so long as they get their requests in by Wednesday, April 1.

With the deadline looming, 194 teachers, 39 teacher assistants and two technical assistants have requested Friday off, Lundsten said. And they all could be forced to reimburse the district if the court ends up finding that “for some reason they were not legally entitled to the day off with pay.”

The day was not an approved day off in the school calendar, which was ratified by the School Committee last year.

But teachers thought they could use one of two promised religious observation days and claimed Jewish teachers who requested time during Jewish Holy Days in the fall did not face denials.

The district’s position is that Good Friday does not require the attendance of a daytime service and the day was a normal school day, according to the school calendar. The denials were also in part a reflection of the numerous snow days that had accumulated about as quick as this winter’s record snowfall.

The district normally has an average of 100 to 120 teachers absent on “any given Friday,” Lundsten said. With the total number of leave requests still uncertain, Lundsten said she won’t know which call to make until later in the week.

School officials bemoaned the union’s actions, claiming they are acting in bad faith after agreeing to give up the day as a paid holiday during contract negotiations with teacher assistants and bus aides last year as part of a concessions package that gave them raises.

“We are extremely disappointed that the union leadership would not agree to a solution to this issue without disrupting the school year further,” said School Committeewoman Janice Ruggieri. “Their position today is completely contrary to our negotiations of last year.”

Teachers who do take Good Friday off could be forced to reimburse the district if the court finds they were not entitled to a paid day.

The case has been continued to April 17.

Lundsten said she has called an emergency meeting of her administrative team to discuss contingency plans. She also urged teachers to get their requests in, if they choose to take Good Friday off, as soon as possible.

Parents might not get a robocall about Friday’s fate until as late as 6:15 a.m. on Friday morning.