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March 1, 2006
What to do about Muslim holidaysThe Baltimore, Md. County school board asked its superintendent on Tuesday to monitor the attendance of Muslim students on days of religious observances, and to designate the dates of Muslim holiday observances on the school calendar, the Baltimore Sun reports today.
The issue is how much does school attendance have to drop on Muslim holidays to justify closures. A school board subcommittee recommends that the district note the holidays on the calendar and teach students about their significance, the Washington Times reports:
Muslims across the nation are pushing for public school closings on Islamic holy days, succeeding in Dearborn, Mich., and in four jurisdictions in New Jersey—a handful of districts that are the exceptions to the rule.
School officials in Hillsborough County, Fla., ran afoul of practically every religious sect in October when they canceled days off for three Jewish and Christian holidays rather than close for any Muslim holidays. Public outcry forced school board members to reverse their decision on the Jewish and Christian holidays, and the district remains open on Muslim holidays.
In Dearborn, home to a sizable Muslim community, one big issue is that state law requires that at least 75 percent of students be present for 1,098 hours of instruction for the district to qualify for full funding. On a recent school day coinciding with a Muslim holiday, attendance was 41 percent.
The issues are complicated, reports the Detroit Free Press: "But scheduling the holiday is tricky. The exact date the festival begins each year is based on the appearance of the new moon over Mecca and usually isn't known until close to the actual date."
Posted March 1, 2006 2:25 PM | Religion
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