Efforts Continue To Make Eid al-Fitr A Holiday In Fairfield Schools

FAIRFIELD, CT — The prospect of making Eid al-Fitr a holiday in Fairfield Public Schools continues to gain support among residents, several of whom spoke in favor of the move during a Board of Education meeting this week.

Eid al-Fitr is a religious celebration in the Muslim faith that marks the end of the fast of Ramadan.

Fairfield residents who support making Eid al-Fitr a holiday stress that it would be a sign of equality and a recognition of the Muslim faith.

Nearly a dozen residents, including clergy from other religions, spoke during the meeting in favor of making the celebration a holiday.

Some discussed the difficulty of having to take the day off, and explain it to students and school staff.

One of the speakers, parent Sunila Fadl, said that she helped her daughter make a slide show for her classmates about her family, and included a mention of Eid al-Fitr, only for her daughter to come home from school upset because some of the other students called the holiday "fake."

"Fairfield students —all students— need a window into other students lived experiences in order to become educated citizens; having the holiday for all students is an important cultural lesson," Fadl told the board. "It would be a disservice to the student population to isolate the valuable cultural and linguistic assets in our community. This is not only detrimental to the overall health of the student body, but also to the social and emotional health of Muslim students. We ask that you take all of these points into consideration when making a decision."

The board did not act on the request, which is the second time in recent weeks that residents have voiced their support for the holiday to the board.

Schools Superintendent Michael Testani said that the district has a couple of options as it pertains to possibly including Eid al-Fitr as a holiday in April, adding an extra day at the end of the school year, or shaving a day off of the February break.

"If you're asking for my recommendation, it would be just to add an extra day at the end of the year," Testani said, adding that leaving the February break as is would allow for dealing with inclement weather if it occurs.

Board member Carol Guernsey said she intends to make a motion at the Dec. 13 meeting to add Eid al-Fitr to the district's holidays.

While no members said they were against adding the holiday, some were concerned over the precedent it might set for future requests for holidays.

"What is the standard for making this change?" asked board member Jennifer Maxon-Kennelly. "We have established no principles for this."

Maxon-Kennelly was not arguing against the request, but said she was feeling uncomfortable at the lack of a process for how such initiatives are handled in the future.