Barrington schools add all religious holidays

BARRINGTON, R.I. (AP) — Barrington's school calendar now includes all major Christian, Jewish and Muslim holidays to promote better understanding of different faiths.

Students won't be able to get a day off on all the holidays, which now include Eid al-Adha, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, Orthodox Easter and the Lunar New Year. But the calendar recognizes each of the holidays.

The Providence Journal reports ( ) that the School Committee has replaced the generic Jewish Holy Days with Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, Judaism's day of atonement.

Students were allowed to take the days off but they were not specifically mentioned.

School Committee member Scott Fuller says the issue came up after a resident complained that the district favored one religion over another by omitting the names of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

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Information from: The Providence Journal,