Rockville Rally Seeks School Recognition of Muslim Holidays

By Tamara Treichel

Rockville, Md. – The Muslim religion has always been treated as a sort of stepchild by Montgomery County’s Public Schools (MCPS) – the public school calendar only observes Judeo-Christian holidays such as Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover.

MCPS stays open on the two annual Muslim holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, putting Muslim staff and students in MCPS before the difficult choice of either following their religious beliefs by observing those holidays or going to school.

Many of Montgomery County’s Muslims and non-Muslims, unhappy about this arrangement, rocked the boat at a Rockville rally this September by demanding equal treatment for local Muslims.

The Muslim calendar recognizes two major holidays: Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting, and Eid al-Adha, which marks the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Over the next three years, Eid al-Fitr will fall in summer, when schools are closed anyway; yet Eid al-Adha will fall on autumn dates over the next three years. This year, it will fall on Tuesday, Oct. 15, right in the middle of the school year.

Many Muslims have previously coped with this dilemma by going to a mosque in the mornings and then coming to school late on Eid al-Adha.

Yet many Muslims and non-Muslims argue that this is unfair and believe that all MCPS staff and students deserve to be treated equally. These concerned citizens came together to form the Equality 4 Eid Coalition, said Montgomery County councilmember George Leventhal. Members of the Equality 4 Eid Coalition urged both MCPS students and teachers, no matter whether they are Muslim or not, to stay home from school to observe Eid al-Adha on Oct. 15.

According to councilmember Leventhal, the school board will only consider the possibility of making the Muslim holidays an official school holiday if the coalition is able to provide evidence that enough students and staff would be absent from school to observe the holidays that it would impact the school day for everyone else.

Thus, Eid 4 Coalition posted an online petition on their website www.equality4eid.com, and urged school children and staff skip school on Oct. 15 to observe Eid al-Adha, send a form email to members of the Montgomery County Board of Education and its superintendent, and support the coalition on social media.

According to the Eid 4 Equality coalition, at least six school districts nationwide already close for the Muslim holiday: Burlington, Vt.; Cambridge, Ma.; Dearborn, Mi.; Paterson, Nj.; Skokie, Il.; and Trenton, Nj.

The coalition’s rally was joined by Montgomery County councilmember George Leventhal, who chairs the council’s Health and Human Services Committee, and other community leaders at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 23 in downtown Rockville. The venue was the front steps of the Montgomery County Council office building at 100 Maryland Ave.

“The many people who were at the rally at the County Council Office Building on Sept. 23 know that thousands of Muslim staff members of Montgomery County Public Schools and students have to choose between their education and observing their religious practices,” Councilmember Leventhal told Asian Fortune. “In solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters, I intend to keep my own son home from school on Oct. 15.”