I grew up in a Chicago suburb that had a large Jewish population ~ schools never closed for the Jewish High Holidays and still don't [unlike closing for Christmas], but anyone who chose to observe the holiday was given an "excused absence" ~ same during my entire working life: holiday observance was accepted [and still is] but the office was/is open [unlike closing for Christmas] ~ so, while I support an ALL-OR-NONE policy and I understand the "differentiation" argument the Muslims are making, I think they are losing sight of the inclusive accommodation ~ Sooz

School board yanks Christmas from calendar after Muslims ask for their own holiday off
Travis Gettys | 12 Nov 2014 at 12:05 ET

Muslims have been cast as the villains in an ongoing dispute over religious equality in a Maryland school district.

The conservative Education Action Group reported that the Montgomery County School District “stripped Christmas and Jewish holy holidays from its official calendar after Muslim parents complained,” and the headline warned that a “suburban DC school district takes Christmas off (the) calendar after Muslims complain.”

Even then, the activist group’s founder claimed in his article, “that’s not good enough” for the Muslims.

While EAG’s conclusions aren’t quite accurate – some of its reporting is.

Muslim families aren’t satisfied with the school board’s decision, because they’ve been asking the district for years to cancel classes on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which comes at the end of Ramadan.

“The Eid is just the same exact as Christmas day or Easter day or Yom Kippur,” said mother Samira Hussein, who works for the school district. “The children want to be home with their families. This is a family holiday that God designated and gave us the time to celebrate and be joyous.”

Students are given excused absences when they miss school for religious observance, but parents say they shouldn’t have to choose between their faith and their school work.

This year, Eid coincided with Yom Kippur, so students were already off school.

Montgomery County schools have closed on Jewish high holidays since the 1970s, because the area’s high Jewish population would create a high absenteeism rate.

They’ve always been closed for Christmas.

But county officials have said there aren’t enough Muslim families in the area to justify closing schools on Eid or other holidays celebrated in Islam.

“The absentee rate on the Eid holidays, when they’ve fallen on a school day, haven’t been considerably higher or lower than it is on any other given day,” said Dana Tofig, of Montgomery County Public Schools.

In response to the Muslim parents’ concerns, the school board voted 7-1 Tuesday to support Superintendent Joshua Starr’s recommendation to stop identifying religious holidays on scheduled days off but simply state schools will be closed on those dates.

The school board member who offered the amendment said the measure was “the most equitable option.”

But some of the Muslims who packed the school board meeting said the decision simply alienated religious communities while doing nothing to advance equality.

“(They would) go so far as to paint themselves as the Grinch who stole Christmas,” said Zainab Chaudry, co-chair of the Equality for Eid Coalition. “They would remove the Christian holidays and they would remove the Jewish holidays from the calendar before they would consider adding the Muslim holiday to the calendar.”

She said Muslim parents want Christian and Jewish holidays to remain on the school calendar – but they want a day off granted for theirs, too.

“What we’re asking for is … to also have both the Jewish holiday and the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha both be recognized on the school calendar,” said Chaundry, who is also Maryland outreach manager for the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Watch this video report posted online by WRC-TV: [video accessible via end link]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/school-board-yanks-christmas-from-calendar-after-muslims-ask-for-their-own-holiday-off/

IMO, this is another unintended consequence of the rightwingnut Christians trying to impose their way on everyone else.

So, apparently school officials are indicating they really need more muslim students in the district. Then they could adjust the holiday schedule. Surely that would make everyone happy.

I don't disagree with that, oskar ~ but schools are financed based on daily student attendance ~ and there's a "tipping point" where it is more economical to declare a school-wide holiday than to open ~ so if the Muslim student population doesn't reach the cost threshold and so long as the Muslim children are not penalized for observing their holiday, I see the Muslim stubbornness as misplaced ~

Sooz

I understand the financial implications but they need to find a way to follow the US Constitution. It's part of their job. If they can't do it they should be doing something else.

LOL, gramps ~ while that makes sense, I personally don't see "... mak[ing] everyone happy" as a reachable goal ~

Sooz

Good point, but I need to think about that ~ a case can be made that they ARE in constitutional compliance by allowing the Muslim children "excused absenses" ~ part of the problem is the timing ~ Christmas day is usually the first day of winter vacation, which generally runs thru New Year's Day ~

Sooz

From a practical viewpoint the excused absence works best. Perhaps we need to look at the traditional school year as being outdated.
Why not 11 weeks of school and 2 weeks off four times a year with excused absences?

That's probably a great idea for maybe middle-schoolers and certainly high schoolers ~ what you're suggesting is very close to our schedule at school ~ we're on quarters, not semesters ~ 10 weeks per quarter, with 1 week off between quarters except at winter vacation [3 weeks] and spring vacation [2 weeks] ~ our schedule is a BIG adjustment for working parents with young children who require child care ~

Sooz

The Judeo-Christian society is quickly losing its predominance whether we like it or not. The sooner we adjust, the easier it will be for us.

Ah, Maryland schools yet again. This from the second most liberal county in Maryland. Home of Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac, all of the wealthy cities bordering DC. Very diverse. Probably the largest Muslim population of any county in Maryland, although PG county, the poor one bordering the rest of DC may be close. This is far from any right wing Christian wing nut act. We were first to adopt Common Core, for heaven's sake. Montgomery County is solidly democratic.