PORTLAND – The Portland School Department has added two new holidays to its school calendar, acknowledging both the Jewish and Muslim faiths.

The school board voted on April 8 to add Yom Kippur and Eid al-Fitr as holidays to the official school calendars.

Yom Kippur, typically celebrated days after the Jewish New Year, is a day of atonement for the sins of the past year. Eid al-Fitr is a Muslim holiday marking the end of the monthlong observance and fasting of Ramadan.

“Including these two significant days recognizes their importance to many of our staff and students, while also providing an opportunity for the whole community to learn more about faith traditions about which they may be less familiar,” Superintendent Ryan Scallon said in a statement. 

Rabbi Carolyn Braun, recently retired after serving as the Rabbi for Portland’s Temple Beth El for 30 years, said she was “thrilled” to hear about the addition of the holidays.

“It felt affirming, nice to be seen,” she said.

Braun said both holidays are valuable inclusions, as they are common enough to have a large number of observers in both the Jewish and Muslim communities.

“It’s not just incorporating some uber-religious holiday that only certain people observe,” she said. “These are kind of ‘regular’ holidays for people.” 

The move follows an April 1 announcement that the district would also begin offering Halal meals, or meals that are permissible for Muslims to eat.

“Like the addition of the halal school meals to our lunch menu, this calendar seeks to honor, celebrate and be responsive to the rich diversity of the cultural and religious communities that make up our Portland Public Schools families,” Scallon said.