Massachusetts School District Marks Muslim Holiday

Some Massachusetts public school students have a day off this week, but it has nothing to do with power outages or snow.

The Cambridge school system is believed to be the first in Massachusetts to give all students a day off for a Muslim holiday.

Students are getting Tuesday off for Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, the Boston Globe reports.

"We’re ecstatic about this," Atif Harden, interim executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, told the newspaper. "This is the first year that it’s going to occur. This sort of recognition of our existence and the population we have, we feel very good about."

The day off was approved by the school committee last year because of the district's sizable Muslim population.

Superintendent Jeffrey Young told the newspaper that honoring the holiday is in line with the district's values of "inclusion and respect."

School committee member Marc McGovern says he got some criticism and even threats when he approved of the holiday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.