CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AhlulBayt News Agency) - There could be a change of policy in Cambridge, Mass. schools next year.
The district plans to close for one Muslim holiday each year, starting next school year.
The motto at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School is opportunity, diversity and respect - supporters of that initiative said this decision is reflective of those very principles.
The dialogue surrounding this decision began a few years ago after Muslim students said they were forced to choose between academics and religious obligations.
School district committee members voted unanimously in support of recognizing Muslim holidays. Beginning next year, the school will close for one Muslim holiday per year.
The choice was made because of the number of Muslim students in the district and it is not meant to be an ‘open door policy’ for all religions to get breaks from school, according to school officials.
“Only our Muslim families had to make the choice of ‘Do I keep my child home to celebrate this holiday with the family and have them miss school’ or ‘Do I send them to school and have them not celebrate?’” said Marc McGovern of the Cambridge School Committee. “We certainly wouldn’t stand for that if that was the issue about Chirstmas.”
School officials said this move is the first of its kind in Massachusetts. The district has numerous Muslim students and those students hope that observing these holidays will open the door to be able to educate others.
“It’s not like it’s a day off for Muslims, it’s a day off for the whole Cambridge Public School system,” said Dunia Kassay, a Muslim student. “So everybody gets a day off. So, regardless of whether you know what it is, it’s going to cause you to think, ‘Hey I got a day off from school, what is it?’ You always ask. ‘Oh it’s Good Friday off, oh it’s Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah or winter break.’ So now I get to say you get Eid Al-Fitr off or Eid Al-Adha. That’s pretty cool.”
The district will still schedule the required 180 days of school. The Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha will be the first holiday to be recognized in November 2011.
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