09-04-2025
Portland schools adopt 2025-26 calendar with Yom Kippur and Eid al-Fitr
Apr. 8—Yom Kippur and Eid al-Fitr will be included in Portland's school calendar next year following a unanimous vote by the school board Tuesday night.
The district administration proposed adding the Jewish and Muslim holidays as a recognition of the district's growing religious diversity, an idea that originally came from students. All of the religious holidays in the district's current calendar come from the Christian faith.
The board heard strong support for the inclusion of Eid from students, school employees, parents and community members, who said Muslim students currently miss out on school because the holiday is not recognized.
Safa Mohamed, a Deering High School sophomore representing the Deering Muslim Student Association, thanked the district for taking up the new calendar.
"Eid on the calendar means more than a day to us," she said. "It means recognition in our respective schools. It means recognition in the district."
Fellow Deering student Khalid Mahamed, who serves as the school's student body president, testified about the challenges of missing school for Eid.
"I have been set behind on days, missing hours of sleep, and from time to time when I can't make up those days of school hours, I do get set behind, and that does affect my GPA," he said.
Portland City Council Member Pious Ali, a former member of the school board, also spoke in support of the calendar.
"No child should have to pick between their religious holidays and their education," Ali testified. "Recognizing these holidays ensures that all students feel valued, included and supported in their learning environment."
Deering High School teacher Tyler Jellison said he is never able to teach new material on Eid because so many students miss school.
"Overall, it feels like a wasted educational day for all students in Portland public schools," Jellison said. "Additionally, my understanding is that my Muslim colleagues are asked to take a personal day. We are given two personal days a year, so they have one less than myself."
Portland Public Schools doesn't keep data on student religion, but the Muslim population in the greater Portland area has grown dramatically over the past decade. Portland isn't the first district in Maine to make this change: Lewiston Public Schools added Eid to its calendar in 2021.
Each added holiday will cost the district an additional $65,000, because they would add a paid holiday for hourly staff like ed techs. The district is required to maintain at least 175 in-school days for students and at least 180 days for teachers.
In response to questions about how the district will handle scheduling of the holidays, which are not on set dates each year, Director of Strategy Sarah Warren said the district will plan for them similarly to snow days.
"We have the projected date, but if something changes at the last minute, we have the flexibility to move it," Warren said.
Tuesday's vote isn't a policy change — the school board will have to vote on a calendar each year, but Superintendent Ryan Scallon said the plan would be to include Yom Kippur and Eid going forward.
District administrators and board members have described the addition of these two holidays as only a first step toward acknowledging the religious diversity of students.
"The attempt in this calendar is to move towards including all major holidays from the holidays that our students celebrate. But we can't get there all the way yet," said board Chair Sarah Warren. "So we chose one high holiday from Judaism and one high holiday from the Muslim religion, and I think that after we get feedback, we can see what we can do in future years. But this is an attempt to move us in the right direction."
The calendar vote happened during the board's final budget meeting. The board had not taken up the budget vote yet at press time.
This story will be updated.
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