A Plano ISD school board member is recommending the district to better accommodate religious holidays for all faiths.
Some Plano families are calling for a change in the school calendar to better accommodate religious holidays.
The Plano Independent School District recognizes 109 holidays for its diverse student body, but the situation can create a real dilemma for students, like Shira Solomon, who want to focus on school and their faith.
"Grades can change my life. It could basically say that I can or can't go to a certain college," Solomon said.
Last week, she was faced with the tough decision of deciding whether to go to school or stay home and observe the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur.
"Yom Kippur is when I have to say sorry for everything I've done so I never quite got that opportunity this year because I had to take tests and do a presentation at school," she explained.
Her father, Dr. Yoram Solomon, is also a Plano ISD school board member.
He says about 50 families came forward in the past week calling for a more diverse school calendar.
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At a school board work session Tuesday night, he proposed to help students keep up their grades, and keep their faith.
"Three Jewish holidays, three Muslim holidays," he said. "Our instructions are going to be don't hold tests, major evaluations, maybe concerts maybe some games, that's it."
Board members agreed it's an issue that needs to be addressed and ordered an analysis into how changes can be made, a process that will take several months.
For the Solomon family, it's a step in the right direction.
"We, as parents, we would like them to still remember what their religious is," Yoram Solomon said.
