Emgage Pennsylvania celebrates approval of Eid al Adha as public school holiday in Philadelphia, and Eid al Fitr as public school holiday in 16 school districts in PA

PHILADELPHIA– Emgage Pennsylvania celebrates the Philadelphia school district’s recognition of Eid al Adha as a public school holiday. This will take effect once the holiday falls within the 2024/2025 school year.

Further, Emgage Pennsylvania celebrates that 15 other state school districts have joined Philadelphia in recognizing Eid al Fitr as a holiday on the school calendar; the districts are as follows: Coatesville Area School District, Council Rock School District, Derry Township School District, Downingtown Area School District, Great Valley School District, North Penn School District, Owen J. Roberts School District, Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, Perkiomen Valley School District, Radnor School District, Spring-Ford Area School District, Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, Upper Darby School District, and West Chester Area School District.

Philadelphia has recognized Eid al Fitr as a school holiday since 2016. These achievements were made possible by the Philadelphia Eid Coalition, which started the push to recognize Eid holidays on school calendars in the Commonwealth in Pennsylvania. Emgage Pennsylvania Executive Director Salima Suswell was one of the founding members and led the group alongside Senator Sharif Street, State Representative Jason Dawkins, Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr., Ryan N. Boyer, Michael Rashid and other community leaders in the Philadelphia region.

Suswell recently joined an MPower Change webinar as a panelist to share her experience and expertise in these efforts. The webinar was a part of their  “Eid For All” campaign, which seeks to obtain Eid holiday recognition for schools across the nation.

“This is a momentous step for Philadelphia, and for Pennsylvania at large,” said Suswell. “Muslim American students, staff, and faculty members should be able to celebrate our religious holidays, as members of other religious communities do. They should not have to choose between school and their religious practice. We appreciate this long-awaited step, and look forward to more of these moves of inclusivity and acknowledgment of the state’s diverse Muslim American community.”