Skip to main content
Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Students petition Georgia school district for Muslim holiday

Aqsa Syeda, 8, left front, and her cousin Ameena Ahmed, 9, right front, relax before the start of Eid al-Fitr prayers in Overpeck County Park in Ridgefield Park, N.J., Thursday, May 13, 2021. Millions of Muslims across the world mark the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan - a three-day celebration. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Aqsa Syeda, 8, left front, and her cousin Ameena Ahmed, 9, right front, relax before the start of Eid al-Fitr prayers in Overpeck County Park in Ridgefield Park, N.J., Thursday, May 13, 2021. Millions of Muslims across the world mark the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan - a three-day celebration. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

By Associated Press 2 min read

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) – Muslim students want Georgia’s largest school district to mark the holiday Eid al-Fitr with a day off on next year’s school calendar.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the request by students at Gwinnett County Public Schools could be the first of its kind in Georgia.

Noor Ali, a freshman at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, has spoken to the Gwinnett school board and started an online petition for the holiday that has more than 8,000 signatures, the newspaper reported Friday.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, a Muslim holy month during which observers fast. It falls on May 2 this year.

Ali said she will have to choose between going to school or celebrating with family and friends. Students may take the day off as an excused absence, but they will go to school if they have an exam that day, Ali said.