This morning, the New Jersey Board of Education voted to approve their list of religious holidays permitting pupil absence from school for the 2010-2011 school year. Included for the first time on this list are the eight Pagan/Wiccan holidays, or sabbats. This marks the first time any state has approved Pagan holidays to a state calendar, and will set a precedence for other districts and states across the country.
This story starts with a mother sending in a note to get her daughter excused from school for Yule, 2009. Rev. Elena Ottinger's daughter attends Pennsville High School in the Salem County School District, located in Pennsville, NJ. Brianna Ottinger had recently finished her "Year and a Day", a traditional time of study for many Wiccan initiates. Rev. Ottinger, who has a doctorate in metaphysics, wrote a note to her daughter's school, letting them know that she would be taking Yule off from school to celebrate. When Brianna came home that day, it was with the list of approved religious holidays for NJ schools and a note from the vice principal that stated while they would give Brianna an excused absence, it would not be an excused absence based on a religious holiday.
Looking at that list, which includes a variety of approved days (including the birthday of author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard), Rev. Ottinger decided that it was not enough just to get an excused absence for her daughter, she wanted her daughter and others like her to have the same religious freedoms at school that others did.
When she phoned the Pennsville High School's vice principal to discuss the matter, Rev. Ottinger was told to call the State Board of Education, who explained to her that even though the state puts out a calendar, it's up to each township whether to allow and excuse religious holidays for students. At that point Rev. Ottinger states that she tried to get an appointment with the district's superintendent to discuss the matter, only to be told that she would be dealing with his secretary, who asked for three days to look into the matter. After four days, Rev. Ottinger says she called back only to be told by the secretary that they were "looking into it" and would get back to her.
Seeming to not be getting any help from her daughter's school district, Ottinger went online to ask for ideas and support in Pagan forums that she frequented. Many responded back to her that it was "not my problem" as they didn't have kids. New Jersey Pagan Amie Tolomeo suggested that Rev. Ottinger call the ACLU and eventually called them on her behalf . The ACLU then put Ottinger in touch with a lawyer who was instrumental in helping to get Wiccan prisoners their religious rights in New Jersey, who Rev. Ottinger retained.
Rev. Ottinger's lawyer contacted her daughter's school and gave them 24 hours to give a religious excuse for Yule or the Ottingers would take the district to court on the matter. Though Rev. Ottinger reports that the ultimatum was at first rejected by the district, eventually the school board's lawyer did call to report that Brianna would et the Yule sabbat off as a religious holiday.
Not wanting to stop at just her district, Rev. Ottinger called the state and requested that the Wiccan holidays be added to the state calendar. The NJ BOE requested that Rev. Ottinger send in any information that she could on Wicca as a religion, such as when it was established and when the holidays fell during the year. Rev. Ottinger at that point contacted other Pagans in the community and requested that they, too, send in information about Wicca to the board, to show that there was more than just one individual interested in adding the holidays to the calendar.
One of those asked to write in was the Rev. Matthew Bartky, Pastor and President of the Board for Sacred Wind Sanctuary, and a Local Coordinator ad Secretary of the Board for Central New Jersey Pagan Pride Project, Inc. Rev. Bartky helped organize a letter writing campaign to the BOE, and posted about the topic in Facebook, Myspace, Witchvox, and several Yahoo groups, that Rev. Bartky considers "the main sources of information for the NJ Pagan Community".
And it wasn't just New Jersey Pagans who wrote in. Brianna Ottinger's grandmother, herself a Christian, wrote to the state BOE to ask that they give Pagans the "religious freedoms that are afforded to everyone." Many of Brianna's school friends also wrote letters of support as well. Rev. Ottinger, along with her lawyer and the personal friends who had supported her every step of the way, sent in multiple packets of information on Wicca.
Rev. Ottinger not only hopes to get the Wiccan sabbats on the calendar for New Jersey, but also to change the policy of giving individual school districts the discretion whether to allow the holidays to be excused. The holidays, Rev. Ottinger believes, should be automatically excused as a religious holiday for students who supply the necessary parent approval.
This article is © Kris Bradley. It may not be reproduced in it's entirety without express written permission of the author.
Comments
This is an amazing story and wonderful news!
Wonderful! It's going to be a long battle but I cannot wait for the day to see this as common as Christmas and Easter on the school calendars.
That is so good to hear!
That is a great step! Everyone involved should be very proud of what they have accomplished
It is a very good news!!!
I just got back from the meeting in Trenton, we had a great showing of support! The Board passed the measure unanimously. We all applauded, and the President of the Board said "Wow, I guess we added the right holidays!"
Thank you to everyone who participated in the campaign, and congratulations are in order for all. I will be getting in touch with the BoE this week to find out if the list will be retroactive (as it was passed for the 2010-11 school year) so that students can be accommodated for the remaining Sabbats this school year.
Thank you for getting the word out Kris, many Blessings to you!
Rev. Matthew Bartky
This is fantastic news! I had a run around regarding my son and the Wicca holidays at our school district here in NY. Eventually, I just allowed he and his sisters to miss school during our celebrations. This does give my family hope! Bravo for all of your hard work!
Awesome news! I'm a practicing pagan in PA, so I was delighted to hear this. But...why does the school have a holiday for L. Ron Hubbard's birthday?
A very thorough and interesting recap as to how it all happened. Hooray!
Ms. Poly,
The school doesn't automatically take Hubbard's birthday off, but apparently it is considered a holiday in Scientology (his being the founder of that religion). Someone, at some point, petitioned the state BOE to add it to their calendar so that their child could have an excused absence for it.
At least the Wiccans don't hate anybody. Some religions - right wing Christianity and the Catholic heirarchy always have to have someone to hate.
In the old days it was the Blacks and Jews. today it is the Gays.
In order to sell their corrupt brand of love.
And help punch so many peoples ticket to hell in the next life.
In the interest in fairness, I there are fundies in every religion- including Wicca and other Pagan traditions. I've known several Wiccans who hated Christians just because they were of that faith.
I also know many Christians who accept me with my religious views as well as the gays in our community. Our local Catholic church actually accepts openly gay parishioners.
Congrats To NJ Yes there are fundies in every faith but I beleive Rev. Ottinger went about this in the right way instead of starting with a lawsuit to get what was desired she gave the BoE a chance to Deal with the issue first and Kudos to the BoE for being smart enough to Examine the issue and deal with it outside the courts if only the TX BoE where as civic minded and not agenda minded as NJ.
I am glad to see Pagan holidays recognized, but I am a little put off by the mixing of Church and State.
Hey. are they going to cut me some slack? Everyone loves drillbit salesmen, we teach people to "know how to know" and make them "more able".
Paradoxthe1st, I certainly wasn't trying to imply that Rev. Ottinger was a fundy, by any means. I was only responding to a statement of another commenter.
Witchnfl, schools give other holidays off already, both Jewish and Christian. There's no more mixing of church and state here than there already was in the schools - just getting equality for a religion that got left out.
"Bob", as soon as you can prove to the NJ BOE that the Church of the SubGenius is a legitimate religion, I'm sure that they will be willing to put Turnover and Passaround on the list of holidays allowed for excused absences.
is there any source of this story other then this blog, i have binged it and have not found any story of it, if you have any source, i would love to read it, blessed be
Rev. Mike,
You can see the NJ BOE meeting agenda in which the sabbats are listed in the calendar on there site by clicking on "Item B":
www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/education/sboe/sboe.pl?y=2010&m=March&t=public
The minutes are not up yet with the vote confirmed, but several people, including Rev. Bartkey mentioned above, were at the meeting and saw the vote go through.
You can also call the NJ Department of Education Public Information Office at 609-292-1126 to confirm the vote.
I happened to catch this story while it was still going around the internet and got lucky enough to track Rev. Ottinger down for an interview. I'm not sure why no one else has covered it.
A HUGE win for freethinkers and all people alike...now to see Rand, Russell and more have birthdays recognized...
Sometimes some people just need to be deprived of their right to "LIFE" liberty or happiness. Jail all involved. At a minimum.
How about attending the f***ing school as is and getting an education. You twits. We're already number 30+ in education worldwide. Stupid.
This is obviously wonderful news, Kris. I am very pleased to read it.
Although this isn't an issue for us (since I homeschool my son), I definitely stand behind the idea of religious equality. If one faith is permitted excused absences for their holidays, then all faiths should be given the same treatment.
Bravo and well done, Pagans of New Jersey!
Dennis Tedder: "Sometimes some people just need to be deprived of their right to "LIFE" liberty or happiness. Jail all involved. At a minimum."
That sounds a bit like a threat.
And what would the involved be jailed for? Expressing their interest in religious freedom and equality? The things that this country was founded on?
Going through the correct channels set down by the state of NJ for getting legitimate holidays off as a choice for students? Wicca is recognized and protected by the federal government, the US military and the state of New Jersey.
"How about attending the f***ing school as is and getting an education. You twits. We're already number 30+ in education worldwide. Stupid."
If we are 30+ in education world wide, why would we want to attend "the f***ing school as is"? Sounds like there's some work to be done.
Would you be okay with all the students having to attend school on Christmas? Easter?
I apologize if i implyed that Rev. Ottinger was a fundy i was aggreeing with a previous poster that yes we pagans have fundies as well, i was congraulating Rev. Ottinger on the way she went about it by offering the NJSB a chance to rectify the situation BEFORE filing a Lawsuit instead of using the courts as a first resort. Too many people fight first then try to make up
Kris Bradley,
Nitpickin' time:
1) "not only hopes to not only" - seriously?
2) "One of those asked to write in was the Rev. Matthew Bartky, Pastor and President of the Board for Sacred Wind Sanctuary, and *am* a Local Coordinator ad Secretary..." - this is so obviously lifted from Bartky's own bio.
A little more editing / editorial care, perhaps?
Good article; a tad short on the polishing though.
Agarthan,
I wrote this up very quickly after the vote was finalized, so yes, there are a few glitches, my apologies for not being a professional writer, just someone who wanted to help get the word out.
The lines about Rev. Bartky were actually what he sent me during an email interview. If he has a problem with the way I used what he sent me, I'd be happy to change it.
Dennis Tedder spewed,
"Sometimes some people just need to be deprived of their right to "LIFE" liberty or happiness. Jail all involved. At a minimum."
And "at a maximum...", what? Executed? That seems to be what you are implying, Ted. For what crime would you kill these people? Having a religion different from yours? For wanting the same accommodation for the practice of their religion that you enjoy?
Then Dennis added,
"How about attending the f***ing school as is and getting an education. You twits. We're already number 30+ in education worldwide. Stupid."
I'm with you on this one, Dennis. Well, mostly, anyway. Our public schools are poor and getting worse. If you wanted to remove all of the religious holidays from the school year, including the Christian ones, I'd back your call. Somehow though, I'm betting that you're not ready to do that.
Have you considered running for the Texas state Board of Education. You'd fit right in.
I think it would be great if they took out the summer and left all the holidays.
That's what the second world countries do, and they're schools normally turn out better results...
This is such wonderful news, maybe more communities will begin to follow suit. I'm always pleased to see someone, anyone taking "freedom of religion" seriously and not just limiting it to the religion of their choice, and I say that as a practicing Christian.
Wow, that's really good news!
This is Good News! Religion is a personal choice, and the choice itself deserves respect.
Great article. It was forwarded to me, and now I'm going to go back and read your other articles. I also linked examiner to my F.B. Keep up the good work, and thanks
Kris, Thank you for writing this article! I would like to point out to the nay-sayers that Pagans aren't asking for the schools to close -- we're just asking for an excused absence WITH parental consent. If a child is out of school for a certain amount of days per quarter without an excused absence, they receive detention. Our holidays are a time to promote family unity and a deep appreciation of our environment. That isn't something you can learn in school.
Since I have two daughters in high school, I will be using the information you have supplied in this article. Thank you again, Kris.
Blessed be. Caera
it's about time we are getting our holidays! go NJ !!!
Very glad to see this(: It's time.
how come you don't list the pagan holidays?
So many religions, holidays, sub-religions, celebrations, beliefs, faiths ... Are we living in a society immersed in confusion? However, I am sure you may agree that I am mistaken and Wicca is the only true religion ... GET REAL FOLKS!
Joseph, the Pagan holidays were not listed, as they have been listed on previous articles.
Eric, no one is asking anyone to follow any religions besides their own, so their should be no confusion. As I, myself, am not a Wiccan, no, I do not believe that Wicca is the only true religion. I actually don't think that any religion is the only "right" one.
Nowwe can observe Samhain and get our children out of school!
Oh, how EXCELLENT this is! I go to school in New Jersey, and have all of my life. I'm pretty new to the craft, but I'm still learning. Thanks SOO much for this article! Btw, if there is a student of the craft
You know I never thought of this as being a problem when I was younger and in school but now that I look back on it, I would have been really mad if I tried to take a holiday off and couldn't because I'm Wiccan.
Wow! This almost makes me cry with joy! If only this could get passed in Michigan! I'm 16, and very frustrated with having to hold rituals a few days early or late to accomodate school!
*smh* it's not the celebration that most commentator's here seem to express.
It's great that we are being recognized for our holidays, but if we fight for one, we must fight for them all. Yes, Christians get their holidays off, but that's because this is a Christian dominated country. My friends of other religions never get their holidays off and usually just call their kids in as sick or don't really care. Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, etc never get their holidays off either. It's just a fact of life.
I was raised that Pagans should protect other Pagans and keep ourselves hidden. Even today, lest we have our cars stolen, houses broken into, our children beaten up at school and so forth. And even if we went to the authorities on these things, they will deny us any rights that we may have, like they always do. It's best to lay low. It's how we have survived this long. Why change what's worked?
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