Philadelphia School District Adding A New Holiday To Its Calendar
by Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Muslim public school students and staff in Philadelphia will be able to take an excused day off, for the first time, this September to celebrate Eid. It's the first step in making the holiday part of the school calendar.
With 65 mosques and some 200,000 adherents, Islam is a growing force in Philadelphia, and perhaps the clearest evidence yet is yesterday's announcement that its two holidays, Eid al-Adha and Eid Al-Fitr, will be added to the list of days off for public school students and staff.
Councilman Curtis Jones sponsored a resolution in January calling on the School District to explore making Eid a school holiday. He was thrilled to see it becoming reality.
"It is not as simple as just saying and declaring a holiday. There are steps we must take and this is a very, very important first step," said Councilman Jones.
He says it would have been easy for city and school officials to shy away from the idea as too politically volatile, but not very Philadelphia.
"William Penn has to be looking down smiling right now and saying his tenets of non-persecution of people's differing opinions is as true as it was when he established this city," said Councilman Jones.
Superintendent Bill Hite says the idea took shape too late to be included in next year's school calendar, but Tuesday, September 13th will be an excused absence for those who take off to celebrate Eid al-Adha. In subsequent years, Eids that fall on school days will be holidays for all.
There are two Eid holidays a year, but they move around the calendar. For the next several years most fall during the summer, but Eid al-Fitr will be a day off in 2018, 19, and 20.
Mayor Kenney also announced a task force on cultural inclusion to explore ways to help religious minorities celebrate their holidays citywide.
"Philadelphia's history is based on being a place where religious freedom is part of its founding ethos," he said.
