Eid al-Fitr to be added to school calendar in Pennsylvania district
The Council Rock School District in the US state of Pennsylvania is planning to add the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr to the district’s 2023-24 school year.
Iman Azeez, a rising junior at Council Rock High School South, asked the board during public comment on July 21 to consider adding the holiday to the 2022-23 school calendar.
“Over the past five years of being in this district, I have been provided vast opportunities to expand my education, but this came at the expense of my character. From names like towel head to terrorist, my once peaceful religion has been exploited stemming from the lack of knowledge of religious diversity. And that is why I’m here today proposing my initiative to get Eid-Al-Fitr as an official holiday.”
“In the past few years, Council Rock has gotten Diwali off as a calendar holiday, and I believe that this holiday is equally as important as all of the Christian, Jewish, and Hindu holidays that we get off,” she added.
Azeez said many other school districts have already started to recognize Eid as a holiday on their calendars. North Penn, the Bristol School District and Philadelphia all have Eid off.
After listening to the students and to the residents, the board said it would support the addition of Eid to the school calendar as a holiday and a day off from school beginning in 2023-24.
“If you’re going to represent one religion you need to represent them all. That’s just the way it works in this country,” said board member Mike Thorwart.
