Richard Hyatt: Should kids be out of school for Good Friday?

Establishing a school calendar that pleases the masses is as difficult as making a group of cats stand in a straight line.

But I do wonder why children in Muscogee County go to school on Good Friday.

We're out for Spring Break this week and Good Friday isn't celebrated until the third of April, so once again our kids will be in class on one of the holiest days in the Christian faith.

This isn't an isolated year.

Looking back at the past five Muscogee County School District calendars, it has been that way every spring.

Going to Facebook, I asked whether this bothers people.

Answers came from every direction.

"I grew up in Texas and we did not have any breaks.

"We always went to school on Good Friday and we lived through it." -- Nannette Clements Johnston

"Doesn't bother me. Not sure that the state needs to coordinate its operations with religious observances anyway."

-- Paul Pierce

"Would we only honor Christian holidays? Sounds like we might want to just keep what we have now.

"Allowing parents to take their children out of school on days they feel are appropriate makes sense and with some constraints on the number of days the impact would be minimal." -- John Woodward

"There are ways to respect the faiths of the populace without violating the First Amendment if our leaders and representatives are willing to try."

-- Karen Mallard Rainwater

"When Larry and I moved from Louisiana, my mother was coming to visit us at Easter.

"She found out we were not out of school on Good Friday.

"Immediately, she told me we were living in a pagan state. Back home we went to church on Good Friday.

Guess Catholic and Baptist in the same neighborhood was the reason. We had fish every Friday, as well."

-- Rhonda Kees

"When I was in school it was Easter Vacation. It would have been appropriate during those days to be on vacation during Easter.

"Now it's Spring Break, a secular holiday, so Easter has no part in the vacation days." -- Jim Davis

"It's the new anti-religious left and it is deplorable." -- Sam Prophet

"It's not a leftist anything. The idea has been separation of church and state since the beginning.

"If school is in session and you have this strong belief you could always write an excuse for your child to attend services or whatever with you."

-- Judson Patten

"Why not make Good Friday a half-day? You still have school and part of the day off."

-- Gayle Farr

Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906 @knology.net.

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Should kids be out of school for Good Friday?."