article_snippet: New York public schools will add two Muslim holidays to New York public schools vacation calendars, NYC Mayor de Blasio NYC Mayor de Blasio said Wednesday, a promise NYC Mayor de Blasio made during his election campaign.
article_snippet: Under the new policy, New York City's 1.1 million-pupil public school system will close on Sept. 24 for Eid al-Adha, which is also known as the Festival of Sacrifice.
article_snippet: The holiday of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of RamadanRamadan, will be observed during summer school in 2016.
article_snippet: Ramadan is based on the Islamic lunar calendar and moves each year. '
article_snippet: Hundreds of thousands of Muslim families will no longer have to choose between honoring the most sacred days on Hundreds of thousands of Muslim families calendar or attending school,' NYC Mayor de Blasio NYC Mayor de Blasio said in NYC Mayor de Blasio announcement.
article_snippet: After years of advocating by New York City's Muslim community, Muslim public school students will finally and thankfully no longer be penalized for observing Muslim public school students religious holidays,' said Zead Ramadan, a board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
article_snippet: Community leaders have long urged adding the two Muslim holidays to the school calendar, and the City Council passed a resolution supporting the change in 2009.
article_snippet: The new calendar will keep the total number of school days unchanged at 182: the state-mandated 180 plus two more in case there are snow days.
article_snippet: New York City public schools have long closed for major Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur as well as the Christian holidays of Christmas and Good Friday.
article_snippet: Other public school systems that have moved recently to observe Muslim holidays include those in Waterbury, Connecticut and Frederick County, Maryland.
highlights_snippet: Schools will close on Sept. 24 for Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr will be off, marking the end of Ramadan .