-
Putnam County School District's academic calendar 2022-2023
Two words have been added back to the upcoming Putnam County School District academic calendar after community members raised concerns last week about their removal.
“Good Friday.”
Those two missing words next to the April 7, 2023 date on the academic calendar sparked public outcry. The school board members had already voted on the upcoming calendar earlier this year with the words “Good Friday Holiday” next to April 7.
However, the district’s calendar committee made technical changes to the schedule after the vote that removed the phrase and replaced it with “student/teacher holiday” instead of “Good Friday Holiday.”
A former district teacher brought her concern to the school board at its May 24 meeting.
“We all know what that day means,” said Cathy Campbell, referencing the Christian holiday.
Campbell told district officials if the words had been removed to “avoid trouble,” the logic does not match other district practices. She referenced, for example, how the district meeting opened in prayer on May 24, as do most, if not all, Putnam County government meetings.
“It’s just been revised with taking that wording off and using student-employee holiday,” Tonya Whitehurst, executive director of human resources and a calendar board member, told Campbell and the board May 24.
“So, it did not have to be approved because it was not changing anything within the actual calendar of approval. It was the description of one of the days.”
On Tuesday, district Superintendent Rick Surrency released a statement and a new, finalized calendar with “Good Friday Holiday” back on the schedule.
“We recognize that … we needed to reevaluate that,” he said after talking to residents, consulting with the district’s legal team and knowing that the holiday is recognized as such by the state.
Florida is one of 12 states that recognize Good Friday as a holiday, meaning banks and state offices are closed. It is not a federal holiday, according to the Associated Press.
Surrency said district officials wanted to make sure they were meeting community needs and addressing local, religious values. That spurred the finalized “Good Friday Holiday” calendar.
“We want to go ahead and make sure we recognize that accordingly,” the superintendent said.
In counties that surround Putnam, only the Clay County School District listed Good Friday on its academic calendar for the upcoming school year.
The St. Johns County School District lists April 7, 2023 as a “student/teacher holiday,” while Marion County Public Schools, Alachua County Public Schools and the Flagler County school calendar do not have April 7 listed as a holiday at all.
The Volusia County School District calendar does not have a holiday on April 7 but the district’s school board is expected to consider revisions to the calendar June 14.
The issue was one on which Putnam County School Board members, as well as one district board candidate agreed.
Board members Sandra Gilyard and David Buckles voiced their opinions during the May 24 meeting.
“Everyone of us up here loves the Lord and that Good Friday is important to us,” Gilyard said. “And they can’t take that out of our hearts, but … how much are we just willing to let go without a fight?”
Board Chairman Holly Pickens said Tuesday that she believes April 7 should stay listed as Good Friday on the academic calendar.
“I am extremely happy that (Surrency) put that letter out today,” she said.
Her fellow board member, Bud McInnis, voiced the same idea Tuesday, saying he, too, wanted the calendar to acknowledge Good Friday.
“We were all on the same page,” he said.
Board member Jane Crawford, who is not seeking reelection this year, did not attend the May 24 school board meeting where the issue was discussed.
Phil Leary, who is running for the District 5 seat currently held by Crawford, said he was “flabbergasted” when he watched the meeting and heard about the calendar change.
He is a strong advocate for having Christian holidays listed on the academic calendar, and said the district needs to be honest with its Christian values.
“I would have been infuriated had I been on that board,” Leary said.
The Palatka Daily News reached out to the other school board candidates, District 5’s Kevin Whitlow and District 4’s Linda Wagner. Neither responded as of publication time.
Copyright 2022 by Palatka Daily News - all rights reserved.