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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 about the district calendar and came as trustees prepared for fall calendar planning. Board President Grant Tock said the calendar is created each fall through a collaborative process that includes parents, administrators, association members and community leaders, and noted the board votes publicly to adopt the operating calendar.
Superintendent Kenneth Bossert and policy committee chair Donna Perez also addressed related state guidance: both noted a New York State law, passed in the recent budget cycle and effective July 1, 2025, requiring districts to adopt restrictions on personal electronic communication devices during the school day. Bossert said the district will launch a ThoughtExchange to gather stakeholder input about implementing that ban and other calendar and policy questions.
Speakers who urged retention of the holidays cited community petitions and recent precedent. Momita Zaman said a petition with 227 signatures asked the district to continue “to celebrate diversity” by keeping these holidays on the calendar; Alka Jain urged the board not to substitute generic labels such as “superintendent’s day” in place of a named holiday.
Board President Tock reiterated that the board has unanimously adopted each calendar presented to it during the current trustees’ terms, including the 2025–26 calendar, and invited participants to join the fall process to shape future calendars. He said the district records excused absences for religious observances and may provide accommodations such as no exams or extended deadlines when significant religious holidays fall on instructional days.
The board did not take any final action on calendar entries during the meeting. Trustees encouraged continued community participation in the fall calendar process and will review stakeholder feedback from the upcoming ThoughtExchange when shaping policies and regulations for next school year.
Community members and parents who spoke may submit additional comments through the district’s public engagement tools before the board begins fall calendar work.
