Burnsville graduation still scheduled on major Islamic holiday, despite objections
Burnsville High School notified students and families Wednesday that its graduation date will remain on June 6, despite religious conflicts for some students and their families.
Community members urged the school board last week to reschedule graduation as it coincides with Eid al-Adha, one of the two most important Islamic holidays, but after hearing from the community the June 6 ceremony will continue as planned, according to a note sent to students and families from ISD 191 Superintendent Theresa Battle and BHS Principal Jesús Sandoval.
'While our goal in planning an academic calendar is to avoid major conflicts, at this time it's not feasible to change the date of graduation to avoid these conflicts. In addition, it's not clear that adding a second graduation ceremony would result in many students participating who wouldn't otherwise participate in a Friday ceremony,' read the note.
The decision, which was made by Battle in consultation with the school board, took into consideration the 'difficulty in rescheduling services like photography and livestreaming the ceremony, and other logistical concerns,' said Aaron Tinklenberg, communications director for the district, in an email Thursday.
'It's disappointing,' Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said of the decision, calling it 'another unnecessary burden on Muslims.'
Hussein also noted that this scheduling conflict only affects one group of seniors as Eid will likely not fall near a graduation date for another 30+ years. 'There is absolutely no requirement for them to hold (graduation) on June 6,' he said.
Eid al-Adha, the second of the two most important festivals in Islam, commemorates the sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim. Generally a three-day celebration, the dates of Eid al-Adha vary based on moon sightings. This year it is expected to occur June 6 to June 10, according to Islamic Relief Worldwide, a faith-based development agency.
Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, also known as the 'Feast of Sacrifice,' with special prayers and by giving gifts and food to the poor. The other major festival, Eid al-Fitr, celebrating the end of Ramadan fasting, was observed at the end of March.
At a listening session last week that preceded a school board meeting, community members spoke out against the planned graduation date.
'This issue isn't just about ISD 191, it's about who we are as a community,' said Salma Hussein, the principal of Gideon Pond Elementary School in Burnsville. 'Rescheduling graduation to recognize Eid sends a powerful message that every student matters.'
Tinklenberg said Burnsville's June 6 graduation date has been set for nearly two years and noted the district does not keep track of students' religious identifications.
Tinklenberg said the district had heard from Muslim students and families 'who preferred we kept graduation on June 6.'
Burnsville seniors were asked Monday if they'd be more likely to attend graduation if a second ceremony was scheduled on Monday, June 2. Of the roughly 200 responses, 76% said they'd be more likely to attend June 6 and 12% said June 2, Tinklenberg said.
ISD 191 serves about 8,000 students, 14% of whom speak Somali at home, the Sahan Journal reported in 2022. More than 99% of Somalia's population are Sunni Muslim, according to a 2023 report from the U.S. State Department.
Burnsville was not the first school to hear this particular concern.
Lakeville Area Schools OKs $30,000 settlement on Black Lives Matter posters
South St. Paul murder charge: Man called 911 to say he shot roommate, 72
Police say one man dead, another arrested in South St. Paul shooting
South St. Paul group launches petition for Pam Bakken recall election
MN robotics teams preparing to compete in the big one: FIRST Championship
Eden Prairie Schools originally scheduled its graduation for June 7, but reconsidered after hearing similar concerns, as reported by Eden Prairie Local News, which also noted that an estimated 20% of Eden Prairie's high school students are Muslim.
After sending out three alternate dates, Eden Prairie rescheduled its ceremony to June 4, which was chosen by 84% of seniors, according to the school.
'As we create future calendars, the district will continue to solicit input from a variety of sources with the goal of supporting equitable access and high participation among students for regular school days and major events like graduation,' the note to Burnsville families said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Unrelated images shared with false claims of deadly Mauritanian plane crash heading to Mecca
'A plane carrying Mauritanian hajj pilgrims crashed on their way to the holy city of Mecca. More than 210 hajj pilgrims were martyred,' reads part of a text overlay published on a TikTok post on May 28, 2025. The caption of the post, shared more than 1,300 times, includes the hashtag '#airplanecrashmauritania'. The video contains two static images of burning planes on a runway, edited with a motion filter and Arabic music playing in the background. Similar claims were published elsewhere on Facebook here and here. Millions of Muslims make the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage each year to the site believed to be the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed (archived here). However, posts claiming the images of a burning plane show a Mauritanian air disaster involving Muslims on their way to Mecca in June 2025 are false. Search results showed that the image has been previously linked to reports of different airline disasters. Two online publications dating from 2022 (archived here) and 2024 (archived here) also previously used the photograph to illustrate two separate incidents. The first occurred when a Nigerian air-force plane crashed in April 2022, killing the two pilots on board (archived here). The second incident, reported by the BBC in December 2023, wasn't a crash at all, but involved a NAF plane that apparently mistakenly fired at worshippers in a mosque in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, leaving some 85 people dead (archived here). However, reverse image searches revealed that the photo was published by aviation website Airliners, on May 10, 2007 (archived here) and showed a Russian-made Ilyushin Il-76td military cargo plane fire that occurred at Pointe-Noire Agostino Neto Airport, in the southwest of the Republic of the Congo. 'The Il-76 freighter caught fire on the ground while it was being loaded in preparation for a flight to Brazzaville (BZV),' reads the photo caption. The markings on the nose of the plane in the TikTok post clearly match those in the original image. Various articles in local news outlets from 2007 corroborate the date and location of this incident, stating that there were no casualties (archived here and here). Additional images of the event found on online forum Flightstory (archived here) were used alongside a Google Earth search to pinpoint the location of the fire, placing it next to an air-traffic control tower seen in a photograph taken outside the airport. The spot where the plane burnt – located behind the control tower – is still visible on Google satellite imagery taken in 2018 (seen here). Reverse image searches for the second image in the TikTok video led to an AFP report published on France 24 about a South Korean passenger plane that crashed in December 2024, killing 179 people (archived here). Featured in the AFP article is a photograph showing the damage to the plane. The caption in AFP's archives reads: 'Firefighters and recovery teams work at the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on December 30, 2024.' The photo used in the false claim appears to have been altered to remove the South Korean flag, which is clearly visible on the side of the aircraft in the AFP photograph. AFP Fact Check did not find any credible reports on a recent Mauritanian plane crash. However, Mauritania's state-run news outlet published a statement confirming that all hajj pilgrims arrived safely on June 4, 2025 (archived here). Additionally, Mauritanian Airlines dismissed all claims of a crash in a statement published on Facebook on May 27, 2025 (archived here). 'Some foreign social media pages have circulated malicious rumors about a plane carrying Mauritanian pilgrims crashing off the Red Sea. These reports are completely unfounded,' reads the statement in Arabic. 'Mauritania Airlines confirms that all Mauritanian pilgrims have arrived safely and securely in the Holy Land, thank God, and no accidents have been reported related to the flights organized in this context.' AFP Fact Check has previously debunked other images relating to this claim here and here.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Editorial: The people of Central Florida stand as the real tribute to Pulse
The story of what happened in the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, began with gunshots, pain and terror. Forty-nine lives lost, dozens more injured in bodies and souls. The violence unleashed by a single gunman at Pulse nightclub left scars on this community that will never disappear. And at long last, local leaders have a plan for a fitting memorial to that tragedy. But that is not the end of this story, and that memorial will not be the most important way the Orlando area honors the legacy of Pulse. Even before the sun set on that fateful day, Central Floridians were building their own monuments, written in flowers, candles, prayers and tears. In public spaces across the region, people gathered, strangers coming together to reassure each other that this ugly act did not represent what this community stood for. And before the eyes of the world, that steadfast insistence made a difference. Orlando rebutted any suggestion that it provided a haven for hatred — by responding to ugly violence with love, kindness and solidarity. That response was anchored in common but often unspoken knowledge. Even before the Pulse massacre, Orlando was known as a place where members of the LGBTQ community could live in relative peace, even though homosexuality was a crime in Florida until 2003, and same-sex marriage was only legalized in 2015. It was also recognized as a haven for people from all over the world — not just tourists, but those who came to this country looking for a new start, even if they didn't speak perfect English. Clubs like Pulse provided safe spaces for people regardless of sexuality, national origin or skin color to come together in safety, to dance, to celebrate their common humanity instead of focusing on their differences. But many of Orlando's neighborhoods, businesses and houses of worship also worked to ensure that all were welcome. That made Central Florida unusual, particularly in the South. But what happened after Pulse made it extraordinary. Even as the shock of the massacre reverberated, there was little tolerance for intolerance. We're certain that there were people who attempted to preach the massacre as the wages of this area's acceptance of alternative sexualities, or who attempted to use the Islamic ideology of the killer (who also died that night) as a wedge for anti-Muslim hatred. But those voices were barely heard — even when they came from presidential campaigns. Instead, the Orlando LGBTQ community quickly forged an alliance with local Muslim leaders and Latino organizations, standing together against the kind of persecution that each community had far too much experience with. This is the legacy of Pulse, and one that we need today more than ever. Over recent years, Americans have seen their state and national leaders attempt to exploit ugly prejudice for political gain. In Florida, elected leaders tried to parlay angst about drag queen story hours and overly 'woke' teachers to distract attention from their attempts to weaken the strength of public schools and erase history lessons that underscore the toll that hatred extracts from today's society. More recently, unfounded antagonism against immigrants is being used to sow fear across many Orlando-area communities. The goal seems obvious: Every attempt to divide our communities makes us more vulnerable, more easily manipulated, more vulnerable to acts of political aggression that can easily flower into actual violence. That reality also hit hard locally in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol: The revelation that many of the ringleaders and their misguided followers hailed from Central Florida was a gut check, but that knowledge was tempered by the understanding that these groups, who called themselves 'Oath Keepers' and 'Proud Boys,' were in fact too ashamed of their own hateful ideology to embrace it publicly. Within a year, Orlando residents will see the new Pulse memorial taking shape at the corner of Kaley Street and Orange Avenue, and it will be beautiful: A stirring, color-shifting tribute to the 49 angels who died that morning, and the community that is still brought to tears by their memory. But residents don't need to wait for architects or builders to remember those victims, or to protect their legacy. We honor the victims of Pulse by rejecting attempts to divide us, by celebrating our shared humanity, and by remaining Orlando United — not just today, but every day. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Ottoman-era burial found in Israel may violate Islamic tradition
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. In an apparent violation of Islamic tradition, an Ottoman-era grave in Israel's Negev desert holds the remains of not one, but two people: a woman and a boy who might be her son. Islamic tradition states only one person should be buried in a single grave, although allowances can be made for practicality and emergencies. In this case, government archaeologists investigating the grave site, near Rahat in the northern Negev, were surprised to find two individuals in the same grave, which dates from a time when most of the Middle East was ruled by the Ottoman sultans in Istanbul. Radiocarbon dates from the woman's bones are imprecise, but they suggest she died between the ages of 30 and 50 in the middle of the 19th century; her grave was opened again a few years later when the bones of the second person were added, and then they were both reburied. A small limestone slab was found at the head of the grave; tombstones are uncommon for Islamic graves, and the researchers think it was placed at the time of the unusual second burial. Archaeologists think the woman and boy, who lived to between 10 and 15 years old, may have been mother and son, and that the son had first been buried somewhere else. But his bones were likely dug up and reburied alongside his mother so they could be together in death, possibly because of an emotional belief by their living family. "The most important aspect of this find, in my opinion, is the emotional aspect that may have been involved in this unusual burial," Yossi Nagar, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), told Live Science. Related: AI analysis suggests Dead Sea Scrolls are older than scientists thought, but not all experts are convinced He noted that the grave was located in front of the ruins of an ancient mosque that may be from the seventh century and the earliest in Israel, perhaps because it was considered a spiritually important place. But it was impossible to know exactly why these two people had been buried in the same grave. "This is a practice that is unusual in the Muslim burial tradition," he said in an email. "There must be a story behind it!" Nagar added that it's likely, but not yet proven, that the boy was the woman's son. Their ages and sexes were determined through careful study of the bones and teeth. But no DNA studies were attempted, and the researchers noted there have been no successful attempts to extract DNA from bones found in the Negev. (DNA does not preserve well in extremely arid conditions.) Nagar is the lead author of a study published in the latest issue of the IAA journal 'Atiqot that describes excavations of the strange grave, which was unearthed in 2022 on the edge of the archaeological site at Rahat. The modern town is dominated by the descendants of formerly nomadic Arabs, called Bedouins, and archaeological excavations have revealed traces of settlements there since the Iron Age. The land that is now Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria came under Ottoman Turkish rule when they defeated the Mamluk Sultans in the 16th century; and Ottoman rule there lasted until late 1917 and 1918, when the British Army seized the region near the end of World War I. Archaeologist and historian Uzi Baram, a professor emeritus at the New College of Florida, told Live Science the unusual burial at Rahat may show that family feelings had overcome traditions. RELATED STORIES —'Very rare' African ebony figurines found in 1,500-year-old Christian burials in Israeli desert —3,300-year-old cave 'frozen in time' from reign of Ramesses II uncovered in Israel —Ancient cave burial of 'Jesus' midwife' may actually hold a princess The grave was "a moment in time, captured by archaeological excavation and research [and] a facet of the lives of the Bedouin of the Negev, a group otherwise in the shadows of archival records," he said in an email. Baram, who was not involved in the latest study, added the Arab and Ottoman periods in Israel were now better studied than before: "The archaeology of the recent past has become a standard practice, and has produced meaningful insights into historical developments," he said.
