BOE Votes to Move Professional Day to Accommodate Muslim Holiday (VIDEO)
Montgomery County School Board members voted 6 to 2 in favor of moving a Professional Day from the 2016-2017 school year to September 12, 2016, which may coincide with the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. This is a major victory for the county’s Muslim community, after years of petitioning for equality on this issue.
In this MyMCMedia Extra video, Co-Chair of Equality for Eid Coalition Saqib Ali talks about the vote and its impact.
The Board’s vote makes September 12th a Professional Day for staff and a day off for students in the proposed school calendar year. Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) staff will now look into options for making the change. This includes looking at adjustments to the proposed calendar, which has five pre-service professional days and four professional days spread out through the calendar year.
The Board postponed a vote on the passage of the 2016-2017 school year calendar until December 8th to give staff time to adjust to the decision to close school for students on September 12, 2016.
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BOE Votes to Move Professional Day to Accommodate Muslim Holiday (VIDEO)
Montgomery County School Board members voted 6 to 2 in favor of moving a Professional Day from the 2016-2017 school year to September 12, 2016, which may coincide with the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. This is a major victory for the county’s Muslim community, after years of petitioning for equality on this issue. In this MyMCMedia Extra […]
Nice Piece thank you. This battle has been going on for nearly two decades. I started lobbying when my four children were in schools then (now all grown) in early 90’s. as a parent, I was able to work on changing the testing policy, homework policy, the addition of the middle east curriculum for middle schools and update/change some of the history books to become more sensitive. mcps was very receptive in the past, it was so real. the political climate has changed all of that. this is the perfect opportunity to do more educational outreach and training for all staff in mcps including board members and principals. equality it’s what it is all about. we are fortunate to have access to many free services in Washington dc area such as embassies, Arab & Muslim organizations and universities. our school system does a great job in accommodating so many different groups and tries to meet all needs. accommodating Muslim students’ needs would be so much appreciated.