Public Employees Aren't Entitled To A Free Pass On Good Friday

To address the Good Friday fiasco that hit Hillsborough schools last week, administrators should revise the liberal leave policy that allows teachers, staff and bus drivers to take off any day of their choosing, no matter if their actions collectively shut down learning for our children.

Superintendent MaryEllen Elia should limit the number of planned absences allowed on any given day, and grant such requests on a first-come, first-served basis. Anything less will feed the impression that her team is not effectively managing the school system.

Besides, Good Friday is not a federal holiday. Neither is it a state of Florida holiday. In the Roman Catholic faith, Good Friday is a day of fasting but Mass is not held.

Still, some government workers have come to believe that they are entitled to take the day off.

Most local governments have abolished such entitlements and are keeping their doors open on Good Friday. These include the cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Hillsborough and Pinellas County governments and the University of South Florida and University of Tampa.

The City of Tampa, however, closes its doors and gives employees the day off. Years ago, it gave employees who wanted to go to church the ability to leave for an hour, but that hour has evolved into a full "Spring Holiday."

The same is true in Temple Terrace, where government closes for the day.

The policy in both cities is inconsistent with good government and should be discontinued.

To its credit, the school board is trying to bring rigor to the school calendar, knowing it cannot close schools for every holy day of every faith. In making tough choices, the board last year decided to keep schools in session on Good Friday, like 29 other districts around the state.

Because of the change, last week's sudden rush of absences - which turned Good Friday into Good Free-day - looked an awful lot like a political statement by employees.

Those who want schools closed on Good Friday will point to the nearly 108,000 absences - some 58 percent of enrolled students - as proof that families want the day off. But that's not necessarily the case.

In the days leading up to Good Friday, parents got the clear message that the school transportation system would be chaos.

On March 17, about 200 drivers had given notice they were taking personal or sick time on Good Friday. But at week's end, 402 took the day off - about 38 percent of the district's driving force.

At the same time, parents learned that roughly 2,000 teachers had requested substitutes to fill in for them. No wonder so many kids stayed out of school. Why bother?

And at some high schools, where absentee rates ran as high as 90 percent, some teachers told their classes that if they showed up, they'd spend the day watching movies. Again, why bother?

Next year, Good Friday occurs during spring break, so the district's beleaguered calendar committee and district officials have two years to think about how to handle this mess.

But allowing what happened Friday to go unchallenged is an insult to taxpayers who pay the bills and to students who care about education.