The San Francisco Unified School District appears to be backtracking on a plan to recognize the Arab and Muslim holidays of Eid as an official school holiday, in part because of the threat of legal repercussions.
Recognizing Eid as an official holiday would go a long way toward changing that for Arab and Muslim students in San Francisco.
But after months of debate and research, the SFUSD board of education came out with a new list of recommendations for adding district holidays Tuesday.
The recommendations include ways to recognize diverse religious holidays—like Eid, Yom Kippur, and Good Friday—without formally labeling them as school holidays.
For example, schools could urge teachers to not schedule critical events like exams, field trips or assemblies on those days of religious significance.
For those who pushed for the holiday, the new proposal doesn't work.
“We don't think that actually works, a lot of others districts have tried that. Students still feel that guilt of missing school even if they have an excused absence,” said Nour Bouhassoun, Youth Organizer of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center.
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The San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organizing Center started campaigning for the schools to recognize Eid as an official holiday in 2021. The board of education hasn't ruled it out yet, but many said the latest recommendations are a clear sign they are headed that direction.
“We feel this is a civil rights violation, we will continue to fight back,” Lara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center.
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San Francisco attorney Paul Scott sits on the other side of the debate. He said public schools that recognize religious holidays are essentially favoring certain religions, which is unconstitutional and he's threatened legal action against the district if they did.
“Just a very clear violation of state and federal constitutional law,” he said. “Even though, it was motivated by some very genuine concerns.”
The board of education has until Jan. 31 to make a decision based on these recommendations, though any decision won't impact the calendar for the current school year.
