A Central New York school district has added a Muslim holiday to its calendar.
It’s believed to be the first public school in the area to do that.
Eid al-Fitr will be a day off for all students and staff Thursday in the Jamesville-DeWitt schools — the first time the Muslim holiday will be officially observed in the district. The holiday marks the end of Ramadan.
Parent Steven Mustafa Abdel-Aziz. who helped lead the push for the schools to recognize the holiday and give students a day off to celebrate it, said he’s pleased.
“It adds meaning to our celebration,’' he said. The decision bring equity to students of all religions, he said.
Abdel-Aziz had met with J-D school officials early in 2020 about the holiday and presented them with a petition signed by more than 2,100 people. The district then decided to build the holiday into its calendar starting this year.
“Islam is the second-largest of the three monotheistic religions in the world,” the petition read. “Just as our school system acknowledges Christian and Jewish holidays, we request that the JD school district recognizes Muslims holidays in an equivalent manner.”
In Central New York, some districts including J-D and Fayetteville-Manlius, close school for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur while most others do not.
Parents also approached the F-M and Syracuse school districts about adopting the Muslim holidays, but so far that hasn’t happened.
Nationally, more school districts are adding Muslim holidays to the school calendar, including New York City, Philadelphia and others.
Lawmakers in New York identified six additional holidays and proposed allowing districts to add them if the ethnic or religious groups celebrating them made up at least 7.5 percent or more of the population. But that bill hasn’t moved forward.
Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime at 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com
The Link LonkMay 12, 2021 at 08:03PM
https://ift.tt/2R56nqx
CNY school district to close for Muslim holiday this week; it’s a first - syracuse.com
https://ift.tt/2QoXNjh
Holiday
No comments:
Post a Comment