Religious Diversity and Tolerance in Public Schools
This paper examines religious diversity in public schools through the lens of the Scheidt v. Tri-Creek School Corp. (2005) case, in which the U.S. Department of Justice argued that restricting excused absences for religious observances violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The paper reviews empirical evidence on the health and social benefits of religious practice, presents a comparative calendar of major religious holy days, and explores classroom strategies for teaching religious tolerance. Drawing on multicultural education theory, it argues that schools bear primary responsibility for reducing fear and prejudice by fostering familiarity with racial, ethnic, and religious diversity through structured classroom activities.
- Religious Freedom and the Law: Scheidt v. Tri-Creek: DOJ challenges school's restrictive religious absence policy
- Health and Social Benefits of Religious Practice: Empirical evidence linking religion to health outcomes
- Holy Day Calendars and School Absence Policies: Comparing major religious holy days and school scheduling
- Teaching Tolerance Through Multicultural Education: Defining multicultural education and its role in schools
- Classroom Strategies for Promoting Religious Diversity: Practical teacher strategies for fostering religious familiarity
- The Role of Schools in Building Civic Responsibility: Schools as essential agents of tolerance and civic values
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What makes this paper effective
- It anchors the argument in a concrete legal case (Scheidt v. Tri-Creek) before broadening to policy and pedagogy, giving the paper a clear, real-world foundation.
- It integrates multiple types of evidence — legal briefs, empirical health research, a comparative religious calendar, and classroom methodology — to build a layered, well-supported argument.
- The paper moves logically from problem identification (discriminatory school policy) to social rationale (health benefits of religion) to practical solutions (multicultural classroom strategies).
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of the policy-to-practice structure: it identifies a legal conflict, grounds it in constitutional and empirical reasoning, and then transitions into actionable classroom recommendations. This technique is especially useful in education and social policy writing, where arguments must bridge abstract principles and real institutional behavior.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a detailed account of the Scheidt v. Tri-Creek case and the government's amicus brief. It then presents empirical literature on the benefits of religious practice, followed by a comparative holy day calendar illustrating the real scope of religious accommodation needed. The final sections shift to multicultural education theory and specific classroom strategies — biography cards, diverse grouping, and photograph-based activities — for building religious tolerance. A brief conclusion ties tolerance-building back to the broader goal of civic responsibility.
Religious Freedom and the Law: Scheidt v. Tri-Creek
In a written amicus brief, Acting Assistant Attorney General Bradley Schlozman argued in favor of a mother and son who were being threatened with legal and academic sanctions if they continued to attend religious observances during the school year (Scheidt v. Tri-Creek School Corp., 2005). The position of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice was that Tri-Creek School's restriction allowing only one excused absence for a religious observance per school year violated the Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, respectively, because it interfered with the mother's ability to confer a religious education to her son. In doing so, Tri-Creek was discriminating against the son and his mother due to their religious beliefs by threatening expulsion from school if the son continued to be absent for religious reasons.
Tri-Creek tried to argue that the policy applied equally to all children and was therefore immune to judicial scrutiny, but the Assistant Attorney General pointed out that multiple excused absences were permitted for non-religious reasons. There was thus a bias against any religion requiring more than one absence per school year outside of the Christian holiday schedule (e.g., Christmas).
The amicus brief laid out the government's interest in ensuring the free exercise of religion (Scheidt v. Tri-Creek School Corp., 2005). The solution proposed was to allow students who miss school days due to religious obligations to make up the work missed, thereby meeting the academic obligations required by the state.
Health and Social Benefits of Religious Practice
In addition to the constitutional arguments supporting the free practice of religion, the health benefits of adhering to a religious or spiritual practice cannot be understated. A large body of empirical evidence accumulated over several decades reveals that a faith-based lifestyle or belief system is protective against a number of physical and mental ailments (reviewed by van Olphen et al., 2003). For example, van Olphen and colleagues (2003) found that prayer reduced the risk of depression and that African-American women struggling with asthma and arthritis coped better when they engaged in religious activities. Social support networks available through churches were also protective against threats to health. Criminality among adolescents appears to be reduced by religious practices as well, with the exception of substance abuse (Benda & Corwyn, 2014). Religion can therefore play a positive role in the lives of students and in society as a whole.
As Tri-Creek demonstrated, public school systems must adopt policies tolerant of the free expression of religious identity while remaining consistent with academic success. The difficulty of striking a balance between these sometimes conflicting goals becomes evident when the holy day calendar for the major world religions is examined.
Holy Day Calendars and School Absence Policies
The following table presents major religious holy days falling on weekdays during the 2014–2015 school year. Holy days occurring during the summer break are excluded (adapted from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, 2013; Southern Methodist University, 2014).
Holy Days for the 2014–2015 School Year
Jewish: Rosh Hashanah — Thursday and Friday, September 25–26; Sukkot — Thursday and Friday, October 9–10; Sukkot — Monday through Wednesday, October 13–15; Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah — Thursday and Friday, October 16–17; Hanukkah — beginning Wednesday, December 17, and ending Wednesday, December 24; Pesach/Passover — Monday through Friday, April 6–10; Shavuot — Monday, May 25.
Hindu, Jain, Sikh: Diwali — Thursday, October 23.
Muslim: Ashura — Wednesday, November 5.
Baha'i: Birth of Baha'u'llah — Wednesday, November 12.
Christian: Christmas — Thursday, December 25; Good Friday — Friday, April 3.
The above calendar is far from comprehensive. For example, the son of Mrs. Scheidt would have had ten absences during the 2005–2006 school year due to religious obligations (Scheidt v. Tri-Creek School Corp., 2005). The Scheidt family belongs to the United Church of God, which requires its members to congregate at regional locations during seven annual holy days and the Feast of Tabernacles. A common policy among primary and secondary schools is to require parents to submit advance notification of a religious event that will necessitate a student's absence, rather than attempting to establish a fixed schedule of holy days.
The classroom is also one of the primary places where students can learn about civic engagement and responsibility; therefore, it is the responsibility of teachers to encourage perspectives and attitudes that foster racial, ethnic, and religious tolerance. One method long used by social studies teachers is to present photographs taken during vacation trips to introduce students to unfamiliar geographic locations (Lintner, 2005). A less costly approach for teaching tolerance in the classroom is to search the internet for photos that provide visual evidence of not only racial, ethnic, and religious differences, but also commonalities. Students can then be asked to share their thoughts and feelings (Lintner, 2005). Misunderstandings and biases that naturally arise can be addressed as the teacher explains what each photograph is actually portraying.
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