Recognizing Eid Holidays in the Fairfield Public Schools
Updated: Nov 18, 2022
If you attended the board of education meeting last night you saw that the turnout was incredible. Community members from the Muslim community came together with allies and other religious leaders to express the urgency to include Eid holidays in the Fairfield Public School calendar. If you missed the meeting you can see it here:
(The speakers start at 19:18)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAbk1DtWBXI
CALL TO ACTION:
If you are in support of this initiative please email both the Fairfield Board of Education and Superintendent and ask that both Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha be recognized in the Fairfield Public School Calendar as well as provide Eid Al Fitr off as a school holiday.
DEADLINE:
Please email before 12/12/22
CONTACT INFO:
Board of Education Email (all members)
boemembers@fairfieldschools.org
Superintendant Email
EXAMPLE EMAIL:
Hello,
I am writing today in support of the Fairfield Muslim Holiday initiative. I encourage the Board of Education to recognize both Eid Al Fitr & Eid Al Adha in the Fairfield Public School Calendar and provide Eid Al Fitr off as a school holiday so that Muslim families may celebrate & honor one of the most important holidays of the year. Religious inclusion is an important lesson we must teach our children and this initiative is a positive step toward ensuring all children in our schools feel seen and heard.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
A Letter from the Fairfield Muslim Community
Dear Fairfield Community,
A growing number of Muslim families in Fairfield celebrate the 2 Muslim holidays of Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid Al Fitr is a holiday we celebrate to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan where we fast in daylight hours. Eid Al Adha is about sacrifice and family.
Each year many Muslim students have to take a day off from school and miss their work in order to celebrate these holidays with families and loved ones. Others make the difficult choice of going to school and missing the most important days of their faith and community. Islam the fastest growing religion in the country and its followers are not represented equally in school holidays. We would like to move forward with proposing Eid holidays in Fairfield schools.
In Connecticut we already have many towns that have approved Eid as an official school holiday including the following:
New Haven Bridgeport Hamden South Windsor Manchester Newington Waterbury
The list continues to grow in our state and across the country. New York City, Philadelphia, districts in Virginia, & North Carolina have adopted Eid as school holidays as well as other cities and towns across the US. We would like to get behind this energy with the growing community in Connecticut and add Fairfield to the list. We know the Muslim community and the entire community as a whole in Fairfield would benefit greatly from this initiative and it is a step in the right direction on our path of equity and inclusion.
Please help to support adding Eid Holidays to the Fairfield Public Schools by emailing the Board of Education along with the Superintendent.
Sincerely,
Fairfield Muslim Holidays Committee: Yousef Seyal Mostafa Hassan Sunila Fadl