SFUSD publishes 2024 school calendar, accommodates Eid holiday
Holy month of Ramadan begins
Sunset begins the holy month of Ramadan, a Muslim holiday celebrated by nearly 2 million people worldwide. Recently, San Francisco USD rectified their school schedule for the 2023-24 to accommodate the holiday for students who observe. This year's celebrations; however, are overshadowed by recent devastating earthquakes that have killed over 52,000 people in Turkiye and Syria
SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Unified School District has published the 2023-24 academic calendar with spring break scheduled alongside the Muslim holiday Eid-al-Fitr.
The move comes after several faith leaders across multiple religions and students petitioned in favor of the holidays being officially recognized.
Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, will be at sundown either on April 9 or 10. SFUSD's Spring Break is scheduled from April 8-12.
The school board previously reversed a resolution that would have recognized the holidays in the 2022-23 school year.
"We’re very happy to see SFUSD take this step towards supporting our Arab and Muslim students…while we are pleased with this development, let us be clear that this issue is not resolved. The next step the Board of Education must take is to permanently recognize Eid as official policy by removing the stay on the original Eid resolution," said Lara Kiswani, the executive director of Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC).
The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), based in Washington, D.C., also lobbied with San Francisco's AROC and threatened a lawsuit against SFUSD if it did not honor the resolution passed in August 2022 to implement the holiday as a permanent one in the school year calendar.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: San Francisco school district may move back 2024 spring break to accommodate EID holiday
"Ultimately, the right decision is to implement the resolution and ensure that Eid is recognized, not only in 2024, but in the years that follow. We will continue to explore all options until the school board takes the correct measures to institutionalize the resolution within the school district. These options still include the possibility of litigation. We also await the turnover of the records we requested to make additional findings and terminations that get to the intent and driving force behind the school board decision to rescind the resolution in the first place," said National Executive Director of the ADC Abed Ayoub in a written statement.
The San Francisco Examiner reported SFUSD has officially recognized other cultural and religious holidays for other groups, including Lunar New Year, Juneteenth, Christmas, and Cesar Chavez day but stopped short on Muslim holidays.
Thousands of emails in support of the implementation of the Eid holiday were sent to SFUSD in addition to the hundreds sent from large organizations throughout the U.S.
Board President Kevine Boggess stated on March 7 that he takes "full responsibility for the moment" and that the Board's decision-making for the process of the Eid resolution represented a "failure in the process and the system."
O. Gloria Okorie is a digital reporter for KTVU. Email O. Gloria at o.gloria.okorie@fox.com or call her at 510-874-0175. Follow her on Twitter @ogloriaokorie.