What is a reasonable religious accommodation?
A reasonable religious accommodation is any change in a student’s course of study with respect to the way tasks or responsibilities are customarily done that enables a student to observe a sincerely held religious practice or belief without undue hardship for the educational institution or substantial modifications to academic standards. Parents and students should consult the institutional/district policy handbook to determine the process to formally request a religious accommodation.
Hindu parents should be mindful that each school has a specific number of days permissible as excused absences, and any excused absence granted to accommodate religious observances will form part of that total. Please familiarize yourself with your child’s school policy on attendance.
Examples
Example 1: Course participation is one of the graded components of a course. A student will be absent to attend the 13th day mourning ceremonies of a grandparent. A reasonable accommodation may include assigning the student a reading response to a journal article related to a topic covered in the course discussion on the date the student is absent for the religious observance. The student may not be penalized for lack of class participation on that date.
Example 2: A student’s elder sister is getting married. Though the wedding ceremony itself is on Sunday, the pre-wedding ceremony is on Friday. As a sibling, the student has a central role to play during this ceremony and so the family may request an excused absence. The teacher may accommodate this by assigning later or earlier deadlines for any assessment work to be handed in, or encouraging a classmate to share notes on missed classes, etc.
Sample Letter
Please make sure to fill out the form on the side so that the letter is automatically populated with your information.
Dear ,
Re: Request for Excused Absence
I am writing to request an excused absence for from classes or deadlines on due to our household’s observance of .
This religious accommodation will enable to participate in the observance of this most important spiritual event in accordance with our religion. This request is being made pursuant to the Department of Education’s Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, 2023.
This ceremony is .
I will ensure that maintains their pace of studies and submits all required assignments at a time that is consistent with your expectations in light of this policy.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at or . On behalf of my family, we thank you for your consideration of this religious accommodation.
With gratitude,
Brief Descriptions of Hindu Sacred Days
Each household will celebrate a particular festival in accordance with the regional or specific Hindu Dharma tradition to which they belong. The festivals listed below are most commonly celebrated, however, there are festivals not mentioned that may be particular to a family’s specific tradition. A family will typically request an excused absence for a religious observance that occurs in the school week during term time.
Related to Birth – Nāmakaraṇa, Annaprāśana, Muṇḍana
The birth of a child in a household is an extremely significant event for all individuals of the household, whether or not they are directly related to the new infant. Hindu ceremonies immediately after the birth, at the naming of the child, the first solid food, or the first hair-cutting, require each individual of the household to participate in a certain way to ensure the best for the new infant. Specific roles are assigned to young siblings of the new infant, and thus a household may request an accommodation for their child to participate in these ceremonies.
Upanayana/Janeu
Similar to the Confirmation of Roman Catholics, or Bar–Mitzvahs in Judaism, the Upanayana is the ceremony for young children between the ages of 8-12 that are ready to commence the study of their spiritual tradition and also as a sign that they are ready to transition from childhood into understanding their part in contributing to the betterment of society.
The ceremony takes place at the family’s residence, at a Mandir (Hindu temple), or in their ancestral village, and thus a religious accommodation may be required as the preparation and performance of the ceremonies requires the diligent engagement of the child with the gravity of the transition, from a care-free child to a responsible student.
Marriage
Marriages in Hindu households often entail ceremonies prior and subsequent to the main wedding ceremony, as the joining of the families of the newly-wed couple is as important as their own union. Accordingly, each and every member of the household will have specific roles to play during the ceremonies that are specific to the regional origins of the family and their spiritual tradition. Whilst elders will endeavor to ensure as little impact as possible on the child during their studies, there are a few ceremonies (the formal commencement of the wedding period, the ceremony of remembrance of ancestors, the wedding ceremony itself, and the post-wedding reception of the newly-weds back to the household) in which the child’s presence would be mandatory. As such, a religious accommodation of absences would be requested for the relevant ceremony by the parent/legal guardian.
Funerals and Shrāddha
In Hindu practice, the period immediately after death is earmarked especially to mindfully focus on mourning in order to lay the grounds for the successful processing of grief by all people connected to the deceased. The ceremonies in particular are those associated with the funeral itself and the obsequial ceremonies that take place nightly after the death until the 12th day, on the 40th day, every monthiversary until the first anniversary, and then every year thereafter. Also, during the annual fortnight of remembrance, there will be one day during that period that the household will dedicate to the memory of a particularly close departed relative.
Households will normally determine what ceremonies a child should attend – and may suggest either that the child attend only certain functions as expected by the household, or fully participate in others especially if the child was close to the departed, in order to assist their grieving.
Tīrtha Yātrā
Similar to Hajj for Muslims, households with particular spiritual commitments may undertake a pilgrimage to a sacred shrine in accordance with the time that this takes place in the shrine. For example, the Ayyapa pilgrimage takes place in winter, the Mount Kailash pilgrimage takes place in the summer, and others take place during the Spring or Fall. A Household that has committed to undertake such a pilgrimage would do so as the entire household. Most households will plan to ensure that this occurs outside of term time. However, there are extenuating circumstances that may require a child to be excused during term time, such as the failing health of a household member, an age-based requirement, financial considerations, etc.
Purāṇa/Itihāsa Kathā
At specific anniversaries or significant events in a household, it is common to organize a three-day, seven-day, nine-day, or other duration religious gathering around the discourse of one of the sacred texts of Hindu tradition. A child of such a household would be required to participate at the very least in the morning or evening ceremonies of this event, and as such a religious accommodation will be requested.
