Schools won't close on Parks's anniversary

School Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant rejected a request to close Boston schools tomorrow, when black leaders and antiwar activists plan a rally honoring the anniversary of Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus 50 years ago.

Organizers of the protest have demanded that all city offices, including schools, be closed tomorrow so that employees can participate in the march. Tomorrow will mark the 50th anniversary of Parks's historic decision, a catalytic moment in the civil rights movement in the United States. Parks died Oct. 24 at the age of 92.

Councilor Chuck Turner of Roxbury blasted the decision and said the move will leave the school system open to accusations of racism. But officials said that the anniversary is not a recognized holiday and that anyone who does not attend school will be marked absent.

''I believe that Rosa Parks was passionate about the importance of education and equal access to opportunity and that she would want children to be in school and not miss a day of learning to celebrate what she did," Payzant said in a letter to Turner.

''Too many of our high school students already have excessive absences and can not afford to miss an additional day of school."

Earlier this fall, the City Council approved a measure urging businesses to close Dec. 1 to allow employees to commemorate the civil rights hero. Then, as leaders mounted a campaign for a ''day of absence" from work, school, and shopping to protest issues including racism and the war in Iraq, Turner wrote Payzant to ask him to call off school for the day.

After Payzant denied the request, Turner wrote the superintendent calling the decision unconscionable and saying that Payzant had allowed students to have excused absences for past events.

''To keep the schools open and penalize those who chose to commemorate such an historic occasion is going to expose the City and School Department to unnecessary ridicule and create a level of anger, confusion, and sadness that will cast a shadow over a celebration that should be a high point of the year," Turner wrote in the e-mail. ''Unfortunately, your decision will also be characterized as racist, based on the definition of institutional racism -- disparate treatment of people of color."

Teachers have been encouraged to spend tomorrow discussing the civil rights movement and Parks's legacy, said Jonathan Palumbo, a school spokesman.

''The superintendent and the school board are very sensitive to the issue; that's why we are encouraging schools to make an extra effort that day to talk about Rosa Parks," Palumbo said. ''I think that's quite a suitable way for a students to honor Rosa Parks and her legacy, as opposed to just skipping school."

Turner did not return several phone calls.

The coalition behind the Boston march includes local church and human rights groups and the Boston School Bus Drivers Union. The union recently passed a resolution encouraging people to take off from work tomorrow to participate in the march.

School officials will have substitute drivers standing by in case union workers do not show up to pick up children tomorrow morning, Palumbo said.

''The bottom line here is: We are educators, not politicians," he said. ''Our job that day is to put into perspective who Rosa Parks was and what civil rights are."

City councilors yesterday were divided on whether students should be able to attend the march. Councilor John M. Tobin, Jr., who heads the council's education committee, said the march should have been held over the weekend when families could attend with their children without worrying about missing school.

Councilor at Large Felix D. Arroyo, who has endorsed the march, said students who miss school to attend the march should be considered to have excused absences.

''Students should be allowed to participate so that they understand the significance of the issue and hear the speeches and feel they are apart of a celebration," he said.