Source: The Washington Post
Montgomery County schools won’t have classes on one of the Islamic faith’s major holidays next year, a significant victory for the local Muslim community after years of lobbying for the same treatment as Christians and Jews.
Montgomery’s Board of Education voted 6 to 2 to support a measure that would move a professional work day for teachers and administrators to Sept. 12, 2016, when the holy day of Eid al-Adha could fall next year. The holiday, which varies year to year and is based on a lunar calendar, is expected on Sept. 11, a Sunday, or on Sept. 12.
The decision marked a long-sought change in the 156,000-student suburban Washington school system, Maryland’s largest.
There are no exact numbers showing how many students and staff celebrate Muslim holy days in Montgomery, but Muslim leaders say their community is growing. They have requested that schools close on at least one of the religion’s two major Muslim holy days. School leaders have said they cannot, by law, close schools to observe religious holidays.
The district closes schools on major Christian and Jewish holidays such as Christmas and Yom Kippur, but officials cite state requirements or operational effects such as expectations of large absenteeism on those days.
Montgomery leaders made national news last year when they struck the names of religious holidays off of the county’s school calendar document in an attempt to show neutrality, a move that drew criticism, including from the Muslim community. The school system has created an additional online calendar on which users can view religious holidays and days of cultural celebration.
Categories: Islam, United States