The Board of Education voted in favor of adding a professional day for students and staff to account the Muslim holiday Eid-al-Adha yesterday. Because Muslim holidays are based on the lunar calendar, the date of Eid-al-Adha varies each year. Next fall, however, the board is expecting to close schools on Sept. 12, according to the Washington Post.
The vote marks a major win for the Muslim community: many have been petitioning for this change for nearly a decade.
“We have been trying to get the board to notice Eid on the calendar for so long, and the fact that we succeeded proved that our hard work and years of stressing was worth it,” senior Raana Norooz said.
MCPS administration had rejected previous requests to mark the holiday, claiming that they can’t close schools for religious purposes, according to the Washington Post. Many Muslims in MCPS fought this argument, calling to attention other religious holidays that close schools like Rosh Hashanah and Christmas.
To defuse the controversy, this year’s school calendar simply says “No school for teachers and students” on days off rather than specifying holidays. While students will continue to get days off for holidays, the compromise fails to acknowledge diversity in the county, Norooz said.
“Recognition of the holidays on the calendar, even if we don’t get the days off, is a representation of the diversity in our county,” Norooz said. “I feel it’s really important to recognize all the major holidays, and removing them all was just an easy way out of the situation.”
The BOE was also hesitant to add the Eid-al-Adha to the calendar because the number of student and staff absences may not be not significant enough to warrant losing an entire day of instruction.
However, many Muslim students, like sophomore Hanna Chaudhry, have spent years having to choose between attending holiday festivities or going to school.
“Now, I can really enjoy the holiday and relax while spending time with family and friends,” Chaudhry said. “This decision benefits so many people.”
Norooz and friends from her mosque rallied together to periodically send emails to the BOE and create a petition to add the holiday to the calendar, she said. Norooz believes the decision is a major step in the right direction for the muslim population.
“I’m so extremely happy that Muslim kids in the county won’t have to experience this in the future,” Norooz said. “To have achieved this success not only makes me feel relieved, but also appreciated and accepted by the people in my county who I consider my family.”
