By Fred Clasen-Kelly
frkelly@charlotteobserver.com

As some parents threatened to keep their children away, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on Wednesday defended its decision to schedule classes on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

In a news conference at a school named for the civil rights icon, spokeswoman LaTarzja Henry told reporters the district wanted to observe Monday's holiday, but a winter storm canceled classes early this week and state rules forced their hand.

Henry said in an interview a short time later that two years ago a committee composed of parents, CMS staff and others proposed the district use the King holiday as a weather makeup day and the school board approved the recommendation unanimously.

"They wanted to protect spring break," Henry said. "That's the last choice for makeup days."

Also on Wednesday, parents sent e-mails to Superintendent Peter Gorman urging him to cancel class on the holiday or saying they would not send their children to school.

"This special day may not be important to some, but to the majority it's very symbolic," Santrie' Walls said. "If you choose to keep Dr. M. L. King Day as the makeup, I, along with many others, will NOT be sending my child to school."

In an interview, Walls told the Observer that when she heard from a friend that students would attend classes on the holiday, she assumed it was a joke.

"When I realized it wasn't, I was shocked," she said.

King's birthday is recognized as a holiday nationally the third Monday of each January.

Controversy erupted earlier this week after CMS announced students would have to attend classes to make up a snow day.

Charlotte City Council member Patrick Cannon denounced the decision, calling it disrespectful to King's legacy. The Charlotte chapter of the NAACP asked local clergy to urge church members to keep their children out of school.

Asked Wednesday if parents would heed the group's call, branch president Kojo Nantambu said residents asked the district last year to avoid using the King holiday as a makeup day.

"It seems to me they would take that into consideration," Nantambu said. "It's almost like they don't care."

Henry, the CMS spokeswoman, said the system would excuse absences Monday for students who presented proof they attended a King holiday event or activity.

Nantambu and others question why the district could not simply use another date as a makeup day.

When the school board voted for the school calendar making the King holiday a makeup day, surveys showed 60 percent of staff and "a similar number" of community members supported it, Henry said.

She said the problem is that the district has little control over its calendar. State law dictates school systems schedule classes for 180 days and demands school start no earlier than Aug. 25 and end no later than June 10, Henry said.

On Monday, she said, social studies teachers throughout the district will feature lessons on King.

"What better place to do that than at school?" Henry said.
 

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