STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Every fall, on Eid al-Adha, Candy Aboelnour would keep her son and daughter home from school so they could celebrate the Muslim holiday together as a family. And every year, on the day after, she'd send her children into class with an absentee note, and her children would scramble to make up class lessons and...
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Every fall, on Eid al-Adha, Candy Aboelnour would keep her son and daughter home from school so they could celebrate the Muslim holiday together as a family.
And every year, on the day after, she'd send her children into class with an absentee note, and her children would scramble to make up class lessons and homework assignments they missed.
Come September, she will no longer have to make that choice.
New York City's public schools will close in recognition of Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr beginning this fall, Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Schools Chancellor announced Wednesday.
"Wow, this means a great deal to us, to our family. I'm ecstatic," Mrs. Aboelnour said. "Now we can actually celebrate the holiday together, without the children being penalized."
Muslim families often exchange gifts, prepare special meals, and enjoy the day with family and extended family, she explained. "It should be a happy day to celebrate, but we always had the issue with catching up with schoolwork waiting," she said.
Her daughter Amani, 9, is a fourth-grader at PS 39, Arrochar, and her son, Hisham, 10, is a fifth-grader there. She and her husband, Abdul, live in Midland Beach.
Eid al-Adha is known as the Festival of the Sacrifice and Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
Eid al-Adha begins the evening of Sept. 23 this year and ends the following day. Schools will close Sept. 24 next fall to observe the holiday. Eid al-Fitr sometimes falls in the summer and would be a holiday for those students and teachers attending summer school.
Officials said city schools won't lose any instructional days as result of the change. School will start the Wednesday after Labor Day this fall.
"I am pleased; I am ecstatic. We have been working together for the last nine years to achieve this goal," said Hesham El-Meligy, a Muslim interfaith leader on Staten Island, and coordinator of the Coalition for Muslim School Holidays.
"We believe that including Muslim school holidays is a matter of recognition, inclusion and respect, he said. "This is a win-win situation for all the school children."
"I am so grateful that this has come to fruition. It is a really great thing for us, for the Muslim community, and the city as a whole," said Imam Zulqarnain Abdu-Shahid, of Staten Island University Hospital, a father of two who lives in Tompkinsville.
El-Meligy estimates Muslims comprise about 10 percent of the Island's population. The Department of Education estimates that Muslim students comprise more than 10 percent of the more than 1 million students enrolled in city public schools.