Rochester Public Schools in Minnesota added the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha to its 2027 to 2028 calendar. The move, which was approved in a 4-1 vote, was justified by Superintendent Kent Pekel due to the number of absences on Eid al-Adha.

“When a larger group of students is gone, it can have a very negative impact on instruction,” Pekel told KIMT3. “And it can sometimes, for very reasonable reasons, lead to a teacher deciding not to introduce new content on days when they otherwise might have.”
The outlet reported that Rochester Public Schools serves about 17,500 students. The average number of absences in May 2026 was 1,682, but on Eid al-Adha that number grew to 2,354.

The vote has received pushback, with some concerns focused not on attendance but on the principle behind the move.

“We must be prepared to justify why days like Good Friday, Rosh Hashanah, or Diwali do not meet the same threshold,” Justin Cook, a member of the Rochester School Board, said. “I just do not believe our district should be in the business of drawing these lines.”

Rochester School Board Chair Cathy Nathan said that federal holidays such as Christmas and Martin Luther King Jr. Day are recognized on the new calendar so there is no confusion.

“So all religions are recognized in that way with that opportunity,” Nathan said to KIMT3 “But one of the things that we did do with this calendar, because there was some confusion in the community, was to recognize those days on our calendars that are federal holidays.”

The decision also included some pushback from members of the community with speakers expressing their unhappiness with the vote during a public board meeting.

“Christmas break became winter break. Easter break became spring break … yet this Muslim holiday is to be an official school holiday. This is an abomination,” one speaker said.

The decision to give students another day off will extend the school year by one day. The change has sparked broader community discussions about equity in school calendars, with some parents calling for a comprehensive review of religious observances to ensure fairness across diverse student populations while maintaining instructional consistency.