School system criticized for holding classes on King holiday

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - A preacher criticized the Chesterfield County school administration Monday for holding classes on Martin Luther King Junior Day and urged parents of Chesterfield students who stayed home not to write notes excusing their children&#39;s absences. <br> <br> At an annual event celebrating the slain civil rights leader, the Reverand Gerald Glenn said he believed that if King were alive Monday, he would march on Chesterfield just as he led a march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965 to protest discrimination in voter registration. <br> <br> Chesterfield decided in December to hold classes on King Day after losing two days to snow and another two days to concerns about the sniper shootings last fall. Superintendent Billy Cannaday Junior, who is black, said the district needed to give students enough instructional time to prepare for standardized tests beginning in March. <br> <br> Officials said classes were optional for students if they provided notes from their parents saying they were doing something related to the national King holiday. Schools spokeswoman Debra Marlow said attendance in the district was about 80 percent for the day, down from the average of 95 percent. <br> <br> Botetourt County schools also nixed the holiday because of snow days, but Chesterfield drew more attention because it is among the largest districts in the state with 54,000 students, about a quarter of whom are black. <br> <br> Glenn spoke against the King Day decision at a protest last weekend, and reiterated his anger at Monday&#39;s event to a cheering crowd of several thousand people.

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