East Brunswick schools will look at adding Eid to school calendar

EAST BRUNSWICK - After 62 community residents requested that schools close for the Muslim holiday of Eid, school board members agreed to look into the issue.

The board also tabled an agenda item about the school district calendar.

For more than 90 minutes, parents, students and organization and religious leaders took to the podium at the Jan. 19 Board of Education meeting to ask that Eid be added to the district calendar as a day that schools are closed. That way, speakers said, Muslim students would have the opportunity to properly observe the holiday with family and friends.

Samara, a seventh-grader at Churchill Junior High School, said having Eid off "would be a relief for me and many of other kids in East Brunswick."

There are "important lessons that are missed and valuable school time is lost," when Muslim students miss class to celebrate Eid, added Miriam, a junior in the high school.

Adding Eid as a day off would also serve as a teaching tool for the broader school community to learn about the Muslim holiday and why schools are closed, several students and parents said.

"Including Eid in our calendars would just show more of that inclusivity and diversity," Miriam said.

"I'm lucky to live in a town that has a unique variety of religions and cultures," said Yaseen, a Robert Frost Elementary School fourth-grader. "But, there are others that have holidays that are given time off to celebrate with their family and friends, but I feel that Islam is not represented in school the same way other religions are."

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Citing the district's dedication to diversity and personal conflicts that previous absences caused, the speakers likened the holiday's importance to that of the Christian holiday of Christmas and Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Eid − and those who celebrate − also should be recognized, speakers said.

"I think that this school system does a great job of making sure that our students in value diversity and value respecting one another, and that could be reflected better if we were to give our Muslim students off on Eid," said Afreen Shaalan, a 2018 East Brunswick High School graduate. "I think our Muslim children deserve the chance to just celebrate freely and come back to school and not be behind. We really do a good job of valuing diversity in the schools, and I think this is just another way to show that."

There are two Eid holidays. The first Eid holiday − Eid al-Fitr − comes after the month-long observance of Ramadan, where observant Muslims pray and fast for 30 days. The second − Eid al-Adha − is celebrated on the tenth day of the twelfth Islamic month and is associated with the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Eid festivities include congregational prayer, often early in the morning, gatherings with family and friends, as well as gifts and entertainment, particularly centered around children.

This year, Ramadan is predicted to begin the evening of March 22 with Eid beginning on the evening of April 20, a Thursday. The Muslim community is asking that schools be closed on Friday.

This year, the second Eid holiday is predicted to begin at the end of June and school will be closed for the summer.

Because the occurrence of Eid depends on the sighting of the new moon, the exact date can only be determinedwith certainty the night before.

Almost 30 Garden State school districts, including Monroe, South Brunswick and West Windsor-Plainsboro, have already recognized Eid on their school calendars. There are more than 100 mosques in the state and at 3% − the highest percentage of Muslim residents in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center.

Typically, celebrating Eid requires that Muslims take at least one day off from school. Attendance in school does not allow the student to fully participate in their religious holiday and conversely, an absence creates stress in the form of missed academic time, school work and sometimes tests to make up. At times, school events, such as a graduation, have been scheduled on Eid, causing additional conflicts, speakers said.

"I think it's critical to recognize that Eid is a major day for us students to celebrate and spend time with friends and family and I think at this one time, we're able to reward ourselves after a month-worth of fasting," said Hiba, a sophomore at the high school. "I find it unfair how other districts are able to have off while some of us are like us. It should be equal and we should all have days off and a day off on the significant day would truly be beneficial to us. It would be great to enjoy my holiday without worrying about making up work or studying for tests and without the stress on my shoulder."

The issue first arose in the district about 10 years ago, when she made the same request to the Board of Education, said Erum Shakir, a mother of three and chair of the East Brunswick Human Relations Council. In 2014, the Muslim Student Association from East Brunswick High School submitted a petition to the board to have Eid included on the calendar as a holiday.

"We are all part of the same community fabric," Shakir said. "We are all members of this beautiful inclusive town. The difference is that our voices have not been heard in almost 10 years. We are all members of the same community that deserves to have their children celebrate their holiday without any hesitancy or second thought. They shouldn't have to choose between celebrating their holiday or doing a test, celebrate the holiday or missing a project celebrate their holiday or missing graduation."

The original aim was to help Muslim students feel more included and represented in the public school system and eliminate the need for students to be absent on Eid. The aim is the same 10 years later, Shakir said.

"Our goal is to get Eid incorporated into the current and future school calendars," said Shakir, who has lived in the township for 24 years. "As a Muslim growing up in East Brunswick I often had to miss classes, tests, instructional time and have the added stress of making up schoolwork which is often used as a punishment for celebrating and partaking in religious observances. Fast forward 20 years and guess what? I don't want that for my three children. I want better. I don't want them to make the sacrifices that I did."

Several board members said the community effort was "very enlightening." Board member Jeffrey Winston, who heads the calendar committee, thanked the community for coming out to speak.

"I appreciate the community coming out." he said. "I learned a lot tonight. I look forward to addressing this issue."

"We are listening. We hear what you are talking about. And you are talking about something that is important to you. It's important to us," added board member Barbara Reiss.

Board President Laurie Lachs said she was particularly touched by the many children, as young as kindergarten age, who came forward to speak.

"Your voices are always going to be heard, but again, we always make sure not to comment, but to let you be heard. But 62 voices is a very strong amount of voices," Lachs said. "I was particularly touched by the youngsters I have to say. People do speak to the board at every meeting on a variety of different issues and one of the things that I've never ever tire of is seeing our children, and how well spoken they are. And we expect that from the high school kids but to see second, third, fourth graders and our kindergarten friend − it says a lot about the parents in this district and the students being as well spoken as they are at such a young age."

email: cmakin@gannettnj.com

Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: East Brunswick schools to look at adding Eid to calendar