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Parents and students urge board to keep Diwali and Eid on Great Neck school calendar
Summary
At an open comment period, parents, students and community members urged the Great Neck Board of Education to retain Diwali, Eid al‑Fitr and Eid al‑Adha on the district calendar and objected to proposals that would relabel those days; the board said calendar decisions are the result of a fall process and invited continued participation.
Members of the Great Neck community used the board’s public comment period to urge trustees to keep Diwali, Eid al‑Fitr and Eid al‑Adha on the district school calendar.
“Recognizing holidays such as Eid ul Fitr, Eid al Adha, and Diwali is not just about days off. It’s about respect, fairness, and identity,” parent Mohammed Az Azeem said during the June meeting. Several other speakers — including parents Alka Jain, Momita Zaman and Amar Vihala, and student Miriam Hussain — described the holidays as culturally important, said removing them would harm students’ sense of belonging, and asked the board to preserve the calendar entries.
The comments followed recent public discussion…
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