Hindu-Muslim holidays in school calendar

By: Davy James – Staff Writer
For the second consecutive year, the South Brunswick School District is including Hindu and Muslim holidays as days off from school as part of the school calendar.
Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan and is celebrated Sept. 10, Eid al-Adha, which marks the Feast of Sacrifice and is celebrated Nov. 16, and Diwali, which marks the Hindu New Year and is celebrated Nov. 5, will be observed.
"I think schools should always reflect the communities they represent," said Superintendent Gary McCartney. "In reflecting the community, we need to recognize who our constituents are. That’s what grassroots public education has always been about."
South Brunswick’s schools now are closed for the recognition of nine religious holidays, according to Dr. McCartney. However, the recognition of the Muslim and Hindu holidays will not place an extra burden on the school calendar.
"I think there was some misinformation in terms of parents assuming we would be giving additional days off, and that’s not true," said Board of Education President Matthew Speesler. "One of the holidays coincides with Rosh Hashanah, and we were able to arrange it so the other holidays coincide with staff development days. We’re not recognizing every single holiday, and the days we are recognizing we were able to work into the school calendar with no adverse affects on students."
Dr. Speesler said the district worked with local clergy in a collaborative effort to arrange the school calendar to be more inclusive. He said the schools need to reflect the diversity of the district, and South Brunswick has about 30 percent of its student body who celebrate the Muslim and Hindu holidays.
"We’re still meeting the requirement of 180 instructional days," Dr. Speesler said. "We take this on a year by year basis to look at the holidays and see what we can include."
Dr. McCartney also said the school calendar may change from year to year as some years religious holidays will coincide with other religious holidays, but some years they won’t.
"Some years are easier to build the calendar for than other years," Dr. McCartney said.
Dr. McCartney said there has been some concern among parents the district is extending the calendar too far into the summer.
"Anytime you change what was into what is there’s going to be a reaction," he said. "Change comes with difficulty for some and is embraced by others."
While he does have some concern about the school year lasting too long, Dr. McCartney said as the community evolves, the district also must evolve to meet the needs of the population.
"I wish the school year wasn’t so long, but like anything else, the calendar reflects the makeup of the different constituencies in the community," he said. "There should be some appeal in the calendar for everyone."