Wake County schools may close for Muslim holiday in 2021
Most, if not all, of Wake County’s students are in line to get the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr off from school in 2021. But it will pose a challenge for some high school students.
Wake County school administrators recommended Tuesday that May 13, 2021, the first day of Eid al-Fitr, be made a teacher workday for year-round and modified-calendar schools. It comes after staff already recommended that classes not be held that day for traditional-calendar schools.
The school board gave tentative approval Tuesday to the May teacher workday, but a final vote on the 2020-21 school year calendars still needs to be held. If approved, it would represent a victory for the Muslim community, which has urged Wake to show Islamic students the same consideration given to Christian and Jewish students.
An online petition calling on Wake to make Eid-al-Fitr a school district holiday has drawn more than 5,000 signatures.
The News & Observer previously reported that the Association of Religion Data Archives estimates that 11 out of every 1,000 residents in Wake County are Muslim, based on data collected by the 2010 U.S. Religion Census. The school district does not keep track of religions practiced by students or their families.
School officials said schools aren’t closed for students on religious holidays for religious reasons but based on whether there’s an expectation that a large number of students and staff could be absent.
Currently, students can get an excused absence for religious reasons. But Muslim families have pointed to how holding school on religious holidays forces students to decide between their faith and missing classes that could set them behind academically.
The call to make Eid al-Fitr a day off from school comes as the district is working on 2020-21 school calendars.
A district committee had recommended last month scheduling a teacher workday for Eid al-Fitr in 2021. School board members asked staff to see whether it could also be made a teacher workday for year-round schools and modified-calendar schools.
Eid al-Fitr would come in 2021 during the administration of Advanced Placement exams, which high school students take to get college credit. Chief of Staff Lloyd Gardner said he’d want Wake to provide transportation so that students can get to school on May 13 to take any AP exams that are required for that day by the College Board.
The workday would also come as Southeast Raleigh High School, which uses the modified calendar, is holding its final exams.
The revised 2020-21 calendars presented Tuesday would still have Election Day in November 2020 as a districtwide teacher workday, closing school for students.
