Montclair Schools Will Observe Eid Holiday After Girl’s Petition

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Montclair’s public schools have a new official holiday: Eid al-Fitr. And it’s partly thanks to the efforts of a local fifth-grade student.

Earlier this week, the Montclair Board of Education added Eid to the district calendar as a holiday, placing it alongside other observed days off such as Christmas, Yom Kippur and Good Friday.

Eid is a religious holiday marking the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer and reflection observed by people of Muslim faith worldwide.

The new holiday came after a campaign from Laila Khan, 11, who launched an online petition with the aid of her family which has been dubbed "Laila's Referendum." The petition, which has gotten more than 2,600 signatures as of Wednesday, sought to create an official day off for Eid at her school, Bradford Elementary, as well as the rest of the district.

• See related article: Montclair Girl, 11, Wants Her School To Give Day Off For Eid

The Montclair student's mother explained what motivated her daughter to launch the petition:

"Recently my 11-year-old 5th grader wrote a letter to her new principal urging her to consider making Eid a school holiday. This request was born out of the fact her world includes many family members and friends in New Jersey and New York who were off but she was not. As she is my little activist, of course we encouraged her and support her stance. She pointed out that several other religious holidays were acknowledged and celebrated, but hers was not and this put a stress on her that she would like to eliminate. An 'excused' absence is fine, but the work she misses still has to be made up (not the end of the world, but clearly not fair when compared to others). She pleaded for inclusivity from her school and my wife and I plead for your support from and for our town."

Saiful Khan continued:

"We, along with many of you, moved here because of the progressive and inclusive nature of this great suburb, but we are falling behind the eight ball when even our neighboring towns acknowledge and allow for this celebration. One out of every four people of the world at large celebrates Eid, and the number would be much higher when we are allowed to include our friends and neighbors if school were to be closed. We ask for your support in this very important issue to my family and many other families here in Montclair. Let's come together and make Laila's referendum a reality."

Other members of the Muslim community have asked for Eid to be made a district holiday over the years, Montclair Local reported. But Khan’s petition hit home with many people, including board of education president Latifah Jannah, who recently said she was “very glad to hear from a young student” at their June 2 meeting.

The Eid will be recognized by the district for the first time next year, Tap Into reported.

A number of similar petitions asking schools to give students a day off for Eid have trended on Change.org this year, including efforts in the Iowa City Community School District and at Metro Early College High School in Ohio.

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