Council President Natali Fani-González has requested the state Board of Education grant a waiver to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) so that Eid al-Fitr is a non-instructional school day.
Fani-González wrote to State Superintendent Carey Wright Monday asking for the waiver on behalf of the county council.
The Montgomery County Board of Education originally designated Eid al-Fitr on March 20 as a non-instructional day to recognize the religious holiday. Because schools were closed for six days during the recent snow and ice storm, the school district changed March 20 to a make-up instructional day. This was done so that MCPS could meet the minimum required number of instructional school days.
Not closing schools for this holiday places families and staff “in the position of choosing between full participation in their religious observance and school attendance,” the council president wrote.
There could be inadequate staffing that day if teachers are absent to observe the holiday, she pointed out.
To avoid this situation in the future, Fani-González told Wright that Montgomery County Council strongly supports mandating a number of religious days to be non-instructional days. She also requested the required amount of schooling each year change from 180 days to a set number of hours instead.
“That will give MCPS flexibility,” she explained during a Tuesday morning news conference.
Councilmember Andrew Friedson, along with several other members of the council, issued statements in support of closing schools for Eid al-Fitr. “That’s not fair to our Muslim families and it’s not consistent with the school system’s values of equity and inclusion in the most religiously diverse county in the country.”
The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr should never be treated as a “make-up” school day.
Montgomery County must respect all religious holidays equally. pic.twitter.com/jsI9q574lH
— Evan Glass (@EvanMGlass) February 6, 2026
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