I attended a meeting this afternoon. The local pastors and ministers have approached the school board asking that no school activities be held on Wednesday nights. They have 'confirmation classes' and 'worship services' on Wednesday nights and don't want students to have to choose. I had never heard of such a thing, but apparently this has been an unwritten policy for several years. One coach at the meeting said she has been in the district for 20 years, and activities on Wednesdays have always quit by 6:30. It sounds like this mainly affects the winter sports where they have to share the gyms, having an early practice and a late practice with the late practice going until 7:30. The problem arose when one of the pastors was told by someone in the district that Wednesday night activities were supposed to end at 5:00, but he didn't see this happening. Obviously there was some miscommunication here, so the meeting was to try and come to an understanding and help both sides understand what the other is trying to accomplish.
I must admit the whole thing kind of bothers me. I spent my whole school life not being able to participate in school activites because of conflicts with church and the Sabbath. Now they want accomodations made for a week night? They don't want to go so far as to call it 'church night' instead calling it 'community night' - but it comes down to the same thing. If they accomodate one group, doesn't that mean accomodations should be made for everyone? Shouldn't Friday night activites end by sundown? Shouldn't activities on Saturday be avoided? After all, why should we have to choose between church and school activities? I don't think that's really asking too much. When I asked how many students on each team actually need to leave early on Wednesdays for church, I was told that it was maybe one or two. The question then remains, why should the rest of the team miss much-needed practice because one or two kids need to leave for church? Couldn't those one or two just leave while the rest go ahead with practice?
As long as the coaches are aware of and sensitive to the needs of the students, it really shouldn't be a problem. Our kids had to miss some marching band performances last fall because we left for the Feast. Their band teacher was extremely understanding and supportive. But what if the entire band had to miss the same performances just because our kids did? That wouldn't have been fair.
The conclusion of the meeting comes down to: this 'community night' thing will continue as an unwritten policy. The school board will not make it an official policy, which is a good idea. If someone chose to have a problem with churches getting special accomodation from the school district, there are plenty of courts that would agree with them. School activites will end at 6:00 on Wednesday nights. Some kids will go to church, and the rest? Maybe they'll be home to have dinner with their families.