SMF Thanks Baltimore County Schools for Keeping Eid al-Adha
Header photo: Loch Raven High School in Baltimore County, Maryland. Photo: Wallstreethotrod (public domain).
TOWSON, Md. — The Shia Muslim Foundation (SMF) has sent a letter of thanks to Baltimore County Public Schools and its Board of Education for keeping Eid al-Adha as a day schools are closed for students on the 2027–2028 school calendar, which the board adopted on Nov. 4.
In the letter, sent Nov. 9 to the board’s chair and members, SMF Executive Director Rahat Husain wrote: “On behalf of the Shia Muslim Foundation, I want to personally thank you for adopting the 2027–2028 calendar on November 4 with Eid al-Adha kept as a day schools are closed for students on Friday, May 5, 2028.”
What the adopted calendar says
The adopted Pre–Labor Day calendar marks Friday, May 5, 2028, as a systemwide professional development day for Eid al-Adha. Schools are closed for students that day, and teachers are on duty.
Under the same calendar, schools open for grades 1–5 and grades 6 and 9 on Monday, Aug. 30, 2027, and for grades 1–12 on Tuesday, Aug. 31. The calendar also lists Yom Kippur, Diwali and Lunar New Year as systemwide professional development days with schools closed for students.
Baltimore Sun reporting, carried by School Board News, confirmed the board’s Nov. 4 approval of the 2027–28 calendar. The board’s Nov. 4 agenda listed the proposed calendar as unfinished business, following a public hearing on Oct. 6.
Why it matters to Muslim families
“For Muslim families in Baltimore County, this is more than a scheduling decision,” Husain wrote in the letter. “It tells Muslim children that their schools see them and respect them.”
Eid al-Adha is one of the two major Eids that Muslims celebrate each year. When it falls on a school day, a closure means students can join family prayers and gatherings without missing class.
Parents, students and teachers spoke up
At the board’s Oct. 6 public hearing, parents, students, teachers and other community members urged the board to keep Eid on the calendar, Citizen Portal reported. Video and an automated transcript of that meeting are on the district’s meeting page.
SMF’s letter credited those speakers. “We are also grateful to the Board for listening to the parents, students and teachers who came to your hearings to speak about this,” Husain wrote. “Their testimony, and your willingness to hear it, are a good example of local democracy working for everyone.”
The letter closed with an offer of help: “Please let us know if the Shia Muslim Foundation can ever be a resource to the district.”
Sources
BCPS adopted 2027–2028 Pre–Labor Day calendar; BCPS Board of Education Nov. 4, 2026 agenda; Baltimore Sun via School Board News (Nov. 5, 2026); Citizen Portal (Oct. 6, 2026 hearing); BCPS Oct. 6, 2026 board meeting video; Shia Muslim Foundation letter to the BCPS Board of Education, Nov. 9, 2026.
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