Wake County Public School System adds days off for Muslim holiday and Election Day

WAKE CO., N.C. (WTVD) -- Wake County Public School System will give students a day off to coincide with the start of a Muslim holiday.

After months of debate, the school board approved new dates for two teacher workdays to the 2020-2021 school year.

One of the days off will fall on May 13, 2021 -- coinciding with Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.

The push to get this holiday started with parent Mariya Shaikh.

She started a petition in October and successfully argued that giving all students a day off on Eid Al-Fitr would help keep Muslim students from falling behind their classmates due to religious observance.

According to our newsgathering partners at the News & Observer, Wake County's school board also approved giving students Nov. 3, 2020 off for the election.