The Montgomery County in Maryland decided to remove all religious holidays from the 2015-2016 school year. On Tuesday, the Montgomery Board of Education ruled in favor of the elimination of religious holidays with a vote of 7 to 1.
Tuesday’s decision is a response to requests by Muslims in the community for inclusion of the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. Both Christian and Jewish holidays will not be mentioned on the calendar. The board claims that the action was performed to maintain equality. Its actions, however, seem to have elicited an opposite response.
Holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah will not be labeled as such on the school calendars. The district agreed to close schools on the days that the state requires. Thus, schools will remain closed during these holidays, but the days will be labeled differently. These days are not to be associated with any religion.
The Muslim community did not expect such a response from the Montgomery Board of Education. They have been advocating for the addition of their holy day Eid al-Adha for years. Washington Post reports that in 2013 the Muslim community leaders in Montgomery urged Muslim parents to keep their students home on that day as a form of protest.
“By stripping the names Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, they have alienated other communities now, and we are no closer to equality,” Saqib Ali, one of the chairmen for the Equality for Eid Coalition told the Washington Post. “It’s a pretty drastic step, and they did it without any public notification.”
Michael A. Durso was the only member of the Board of Education to oppose the decision.
“No matter how well-intentioned we are, it comes off as insensitive,” he said.
