MD: Muslims Seek Input into School Calendar   1/21/05 Source: Baltimore Sun (exerpt)   While her friends stress over their midterms today, Aisha Hasan won't be with them in school. Instead, the 15-year-old sophomore at River Hill High School in Clarksville will be at home observing a sacred Muslim holiday that marks the end of pilgrimage to Mecca. This year, the three-day Eid al-Adha celebration, which began yesterday, falls on midterm week for Howard County high school students such as Aisha. It is one example of Muslim students in the Baltimore area balancing academic commitments and their faith. "I was worried because I didn't want to choose between having to stay and take the exams or going to prayers and not knowing whether I could retake the test at a later date," said Aisha. "Friday is pretty important. It's our holy day. You go to religious prayers in the morning, and then you celebrate with friends and family throughout the day. It's like Christmas." In Howard County, Muslim students can make up missed exams next week, although confusion over the policy prompted worried parents to lobby the school board. Leaders of the Howard County Muslim Council, which estimates that 3,000 to 4,000 Muslim students attend Howard schools, are working with school officials to avoid such scheduling conflicts - and confusion - in the future. In recent years, a growing number of Muslim parents and students have been lobbying Baltimore-area school districts to adjust school policies to accommodate their religious practices, including the types of school lunches served and the times and places students can pray. At the forefront has been a push to close schools on the Islamic faith's most sacred observances, Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan. Baltimore County Muslims have been spearheading calls to close school, attending every school board meeting for the past year