Hewlett-Woodmere SD holds meeting to discuss adding 2 Muslim holidays to school calendar

The Hewlett-Woodmere School District discussed adding two Muslim holy days to its school calendar at a board meeting Wednesday.
Proponents of adding the Muslim holidays of Eid al Fitr and Eid al Adha to the school calendar say that the district has to recognize that things are changing.
"Representation matters and I don't think it's about like giving the day off anymore," says Asma Rasheed, a graduate of Hewlett High School. "It's about them recognizing that there are different students and different communities that need to be represented."
Some school board members say that they are not in a position to add a religious holiday to the calendar.
"Getting Eid in Hewlett-Woodmere, in my opinion, this is just me speaking, would be a violation of constitutional law and I believe it would be subjected to a challenge," one person said at the meeting.
This is not the first time the board has been asked to add the holy days to the calendar.
A proposal was first submitted back in 2017 by Shahnaz Mallik, of Woodmere.
No vote was taken Wednesday but dozens of people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.