Maryland schools avoid recognising Muslim holiday by renaming others
Largest school district removes Christian and Jewish names from holidays
Muslims had requested recognition of Eid al-Adha
Maryland’s largest school district has voted to strip religious labels from holidays on next year’s school calendar after Muslims sought recognition of a holy day.
The stripped labels include Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas, and the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.
The 7-1 decision by the Montgomery County’s board of education on Tuesday came after Muslim leaders in the community asked that equal recognition be given to the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha.
School still will be closed for the Christian and Jewish holidays and students will get the same days off. School will remain open for the Muslim holiday.
Muslim leaders say they are not pleased with the result. They did not want religious labels removed from the other holidays, just for Muslim students to be treated equally and to have their own holiday recognised.
