As it currently stands, come June 6, some Burnsville students could have to choose between attending their own graduation ceremony or celebrating a sacred Islamic holiday.

Students, families and community organizers are planning to attend the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School Board meeting on Thursday to urge the school district to reschedule the 2025 graduation ceremony, which currently coincides with Eid al-Adha, according to an advisory from the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“The current graduation schedule places Muslim students and families in an untenable position — forcing them to choose between a religious obligation and celebrating a once-in-a-lifetime academic milestone,” MN-CAIR said.

Eid al-Adha, the second of the two most important festivals in Islam, commemorates the sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim. Generally a three-day celebration, the dates of Eid al-Adha vary based on moon sightings. This year it is expected to occur June 6 to June 10, according to Islamic Relief Worldwide, a faith-based development agency.

Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, also known as the “Feast of Sacrifice,” with special prayers and by giving gifts and food to the poor.

ISD 191 is not the first to hear this particular request.

Eden Prairie Schools originally scheduled its graduation for June 7, but reconsidered after hearing similar concerns, as reported by Eden Prairie Local News, which also noted that an estimated 20% of Eden Prairie’s high school students are Muslim.

After sending out three alternate dates, Eden Prairie rescheduled its ceremony to June 4, which was chosen by 84% of seniors, according to the school.

The Burnsville public meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Diamondhead Education Center at 200 W. Burnsville Parkway. The school board meeting is expected to start at 6:30 p.m.

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By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security is offering buyouts and early retirement options to staffers, as the Trump administration pushes forward with efforts to reduce and reshape the federal workforce, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.

In the email, titled “Reshaping of the DHS Workforce,” Secretary Kristi Noem said the department would give staffers who want to leave three options: deferred resignation, early retirement and a voluntary separation payment. The email, which was sent Monday night, said the last option offers a lump-sum payment of up to $25,000 in some cases.

Staff have until April 14 to decide on whether to apply for the offer.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about how many people are expected to take the offer or whether staff cuts would eventually follow.

“The American people deserve a government that works for them, something President Trump has promised,” spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Every dollar spent and position filled at DHS should be focused on our core mission of securing our homeland and keeping the American people safe.”

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Homeland Security has so far avoided the widespread, sweeping layoffs seen in other agencies across the federal government.

In fact, the department has been advertising on social media that it’s looking for more staff in areas critical to immigration enforcement, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations.

Some areas of the department have seen cuts, including at a center focused on reducing targeted violence and terrorism. Also, 200 probationary FEMA employees were fired earlier this year, and three offices designed to provide oversight of the department were gutted.

In the Monday email, Noem said the offers to workers “reflect our commitment to aligning our workforce with evolving mission needs while supporting the personal and professional goals of our dedicated employees.” She said individual components within Homeland Security would give further guidance to staff about who is eligible and who would be excluded because they are “mission critical frontline workforce.”

Noem said that law enforcement officials would generally be exempt from the buyout offer. That’s significant for Homeland Security, with law enforcement officers employed for many department functions such as Customs and Border Protection.

Homeland Security was created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks to bring together 22 disparate agencies into one department. The sprawling department pulls together the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Coast Guard, Secret Service, and key parts of the country’s immigration and border security mission, among others.

Minneapolis hip hop duo Atmosphere will headline the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand on Aug. 23 on a packed bill that also includes Cypress Hill, Lupe Fiasco, the Pharcyde and DJ Abilities.

Tickets are priced from $86.75 to $51.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Etix or by phone at 800-514-3849.

Rapper Sean “Slug” Daley and DJ/producer Anthony “Ant” Davis released their debut album “Overcast!” in 1997 on Rhymesayers, a record label they founded with Musab Saad and Brent Sayers. The pair broke through to a larger audience with 2002’s “God Loves Ugly,” which was later named as one of the 30 best underground hip hop albums of the 21st century by HipHopDX.

In the years since, Atmosphere has continued to regularly release new music, including their most recent album “So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously,” which Slug has compared to Pink Floyd. Over the past year, Ant has issued three instrumental albums dubbed “Collection of Sounds,” with a fourth on the way.

Beyond the music, Atmosphere is best known for their live shows. They’ve toured heavily since the beginning and started playing with a live band in the early ’00s. From 2008 to 2019, the duo headed up the Soundset Music Festival, which drew fans from around the world to the Metrodome parking lot and, in its later years, the Minnesota State Fair.

The Minnesota State Fair runs from Aug. 21 through Sept. 1. Atmosphere joins the previously announced headliners Old Dominion on Aug. 21, the joint bill of Melissa Etheridge and Indigo Girls on Aug. 24, the Happy Together Tour on Aug. 25, Def Leppard on Aug. 26 and the Steve Miller Band on Aug. 28.

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By SARA CLINE, Associated Press

JENA, La. (AP) — An immigration judge in Louisiana said she will decide later this week whether the government can continue to detain Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University activist facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests.

At an immigration hearing Tuesday in Louisiana, Judge Jamee Comans gave the federal government until Wednesday to turn over its evidence gathered against Khalil, a 30-year-old legal U.S. resident.

If the evidence against Khalil does not support his removal, Comans said, “then I am going to terminate the case on Friday.”

On March 8, Khalil became the first in a growing number of foreign-born students targeted for deportation by the Trump administration for participating in campus protests against Israel and the war in Gaza.

He was detained by federal immigration authorities inside the lobby of his Manhattan apartment, then flown overnight to an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana, thousands of miles from his attorneys and wife, a U.S. citizen who is due to give birth this month.

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As Khalil’s immigration case plays out in Louisiana, his attorneys have also challenged his detention and potential deportation before a federal judge in New Jersey. That judge last week rejected the Trump administration’s effort to transfer jurisdiction of the legal battle to Louisiana, but has yet to rule on the petition for his release.

The federal government has sought to deport Khalil and other students under a rarely-used statute that authorizes the Secretary of State to expel noncitizens who pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

They have alleged, without providing evidence, that Khalil’s prominent role in anti-Israel protests amounted to support for Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and attacked Israel in October 2023.

Khalil served as a negotiator for student protesters at Columbia, but was not among those arrested and has not been accused of any crime. He has repeatedly denied claims of antisemitism.

In a letter dictated from jail last month, Khalil said his detention was a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”