By Ron Miller
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Baltimore County Board of Education faced stern criticism from members of the local Muslim community Tuesday who complained the lack of Muslim holidays included on the proposed 2016-2017 school year schedule.
The two major Muslim holidays in question were Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha.
More than half of the 10 people who spoke during the open comment session of Tuesday’s meeting were members of Baltimore County’s Muslim community. As each sat before the board to state their argument, other Muslim community members in the audience stood to show their support.
“I have been having this conversation with these boards for two-thirds of my life,” said Muhammad Jameel, the president of the Islamic Society of Baltimore. “It is a matter of simple injustice that this county recognizes the holidays of other religions yet continues to ignore our community.”
Jameel went on to state that with the Muslim community in Baltimore reaching well over 5,000 it is time that the board recognizes these students and their families. Jameel also explained that he first brought this issue to the board in 1984 but that there has not been much progress since.
Selma Vagari, a third grade student from Catonsville, told the board that some of her Muslim classmates do not celebrate the holidays because they have school on those days.
“They don’t want their grades to drop,” Vagari said. “My brother decided to skip school to honor a holiday and ended up falling behind in a couple of his classes.”
Baltimore County schools are not the only ones feeling the pressure from the Muslim community. Just last month the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a policy that would allow the board to become more flexible regarding religious holidays when creating the annual school calendar.
“We preach about equity and now it is our turn to show that we mean it,” said board member Michael J. Collins. “If ‘all’ truly does mean ‘all,’’ then we must show respect to the members of Baltimore’s Muslim community.”
Moti Kahn, a Muslim from Pikesville with two children in the Baltimore County school district, explained what it would mean for his family if these holidays were recognized on the school calendar.
“My family could take the day to be together just as other families do on their holidays,” Kahn said. “It is just unfair that we continue to be unrecognized. We are just asking that the board sees what this means to us and takes our concerns into fair consideration.”
The board will make its final revisions to the 2016-2017 school calendar in its coming meetings.
The next Board of Education meeting will be held on Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m., on the Greenwood Campus.