Both Hopkins Public Schools and Minneapolis Public Schools have added Eid, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to their calendars, canceling classes when the holidays fall on a school day. This allows its Muslim students to celebrate the end of Ramadan and its Jewish students to celebrate the two holiest holidays of the year, all without worrying about what they might be missing in school.

As a Jewish student at Park, over the past four years I’ve had to worry about what I’m missing at school while I’m sitting in synagogue, when I’m supposed to be celebrating the two holiest days of the year. Not only are these holidays, they are days of rest, meaning I’m not able to work on the homework given to me ahead of time, or study for the quiz or test that I will likely have to schedule because they were given that day. 

Historically, the scheduling of important school events clashes with various religious holidays. Last year, prom was on Eid and the first day of school this year was originally planned on the first day of Rosh HaShanah until there was an outcry of concern from Park’s Jewish student population and their families. The first day was eventually rescheduled to the second day of Rosh HaShanah, meaning a portion of the Jewish students still could not attend. 

The Muslim and Jewish communities are making the simplest of requests: to be included. Park has very large Muslim and Jewish populations— an example being Park’s infamous nickname, “St. Jewish Park.” Considering these are such large groups in the community, the lack of representation is unfair and has a negative impact on the education and learning experience of these students.

If Eid, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are not taken into account in creating future district calendars, these two communities will continue to be under-supported and ignored. In order to respect the diverse community at Park, administration should take the dates of Eid, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur into account when constructing the district calendar in the future. Park should follow the footsteps of Hopkins and Minneapolis schools in allowing their Muslim and Jewish students to practice their religion without fear of repercussions.