Photo courtesy of Ben Hovland | Sahan Journal.
Several Minnesota school districts have approved adding the Muslim holiday ending Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, to the official school calendar. Several communities also added Indigenous People’s Day and Jewish holidays– Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Minneapolis public schools approved adding Eid, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to the official holiday calendar on Feb. 8.
The school board in Mankato will change their official school calendars to add Indigenous People’s Day and Eid al-Fitr. Mankato is much smaller than Minneapolis and conservative, with a population of 45,000. However, one-third of the population is minorities, including a large Sudanese and Somali population.
The committee in Hopkins approved Eid, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on Jan. 18.
The recent calendar changes are the first time schools in Minnesota have acknowledged Eid al-Fitr and Ramadan. Charter schools in Minnesota with Muslim students already scheduled classes around Ramadan and Eid.
School districts in other states, including New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, also added Eid to their official school calendars, beginning with New York City in 2015. The Hopkinton Public School board in Hopkinton, Mass., voted
on Feb. 3 to add Eid and the Lunar New Year, which is a traditional East and Southeast Asian holiday, to the school calendar. The district’s Asian population doubled to 11 percent from 2010, which prompted the school district to add the Indian holiday Diwali to the calendar in 2019.Minneapolis school board member Siad Ali said that the new calendar was a victory for students, and many public school staff members who observe Eid can now celebrate the holiday.
“We want our children to celebrate with us without feeling that they’re missing their classroom or they’re missing their schoolwork,” said Ali. “This is a joyful moment.”
Abdisalam is a Somali teacher with Minnesota schools and said the change would benefit young Muslim students’ pride and morale.
“That sense of happiness that children need, for them to be recognized, and for them to not worry between school and the day off, I think significantly boosts their morale and their pride as Muslim students in public schools,” he said.
The calendar changes for the Minnesota and Massachusetts school districts will become effective beginning in the fall.