John Overton High School and Valor Collegiate Prep in Nashville both confirmed a series of accommodations for Muslim students following a letter sent to Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) by the American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) last year.
News of the accommodations for Muslim students at both schools first emerged through profiles by The Nashville Banner, which first reported that a “special bell” alerts Muslims attending Valor Collegiate Prep to leave class to pray in November 2025. In that profile, The Banner referenced a September 2025 report released by AMAC, which apparently warned students may experience increased Islamophobia following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas in Israel.
The outlet also reported that AMAC Executive Director Sabina Mohyuddin and other Muslim community leaders “have held meetings with [MNPS] Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle” to share how the district “can better support Muslim students.”
When The Banner published its April 7 profile of Overton High School, which created electronic hall passes for students to leave class and pray in a reserved space during Ramadan, the outlet again referenced the letter, and reported that AMAC urged MNPS to allow Muslim students to skip physical activity, spend lunchtime in an area that does not smell like food, and monitor students’ fatigue.
“It is a Muslim’s right to fast and receive reasonable accommodations at school or work,” AMAC wrote in the letter to MNPS, according to the outlet.
The Banner also quoted Mohyuddin (pictured above), telling the outlet last November that Muslim students in Nashville experience “pressure being at school where you are a minority.”
A withdrawn resolution filed in the Tennessee General Assembly in 2023 describes Mohyuddin as “a Bangladeshi American Muslim born and raised in Nashville,” and reveals she was a founding board member at AMAC, and has also worked with the League of Women Voters Nashville, the National Organization for Workforce Diversity, and founded the Sons and Daughters of Abraham Project.
The letter and recent reporting about Muslim accommodations at Nashville schools come years after Mohyuddin said she would like to see additional cultural sensitivity training from MNPS.
Mohyuddin said in an interview streamed online, “The training we would like to have is not mandated. They do have training sessions, like in Metro Public Schools, and my brother Rashed, they do a training on cultural diversity in the Muslim community and social emotional learning, but the thing about it, it’s not a mandatory training for the teachers.”
She added, “I think that’s what, you know, we need mandatory training.”
The group appears to have also offered similar training to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), according to a 2020 social media post that claims 45 cadets visited the Islamic Center of Nashville during the Metro Human Relations Mobile Diversity Seminar.
Though Mohyuddin did not provide additional details about the training offered by her brother during the interview, an obituary published in The Tennessean seems to reveal her brother is Rashed Fakruddin, the President of the Islamic Center of Nashville Board of Trustees, and was previously described as the organization’s director of community partnerships in an event listing by YWCA Nashville.
Noting that Fakruddin speaks to “thousands of high school students ever year,” the YWCA listing wrote that he served, “on the Nashville Chamber’s Engineering Partnership Council for Metro Nashville Public Schools.” He also works as an Engineering Supervisor for Nashville Electric Service (NES).
Neither Mohyuddin nor Fakruddin appears to be strangers to politics.
Following the deployment of the Memphis Safe Task Force last year, Mohyuddin’s organization issued a statement condemning the “politically motivated” partnership among local, state, and federal agencies.
Last month, Mohyuddin extended her criticism to U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), following his comments about Muslim immigrants.
“Congressman Ogles, this isn’t the first time he’s said some things against Muslims, last summer when Mayor Zohran Mamdani was running, he was saying we should deport him,” said Mohyuddin during an appearance on NewsChannel 5. “This has been building up, you know, Andy Ogles doesn’t have a record to run on for the midterm elections here in the 5th district.”
Fakruddin similarly delivered one of two blessings for Mayor Freddie O’Connell ahead of his State of Metro Address in 2024.
MNPS did not respond to earlier questions from The Tennessee Star regarding the potential First Amendment implications of using school resources to support prayer.
Asked about the Overton High School accommodations earlier this week, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti stated, “If the school is dedicating resources to something, that’s a very different situation than if the students are self-organizing.”
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Sabina Mohyuddin” by American Muslim Advisory Council.
I miss my country
They do not want inclusion, they want everything to change to how THEY want it. No other religion is allowed to do this, nor should they be. This is the same dual standard that already exists to the point that standard mean little.
They don’t want inclusion, they want special treatment. Sad day for JOHS.
They should return to whatever place they came from if they want to continue to live like that. America is not here to bend to everyone’s personal desires.
I am totally outraged by the behavior of the Nashville school administration. This problem should have been killed before it became a problem. Just goes to show you how far local, state and national governments have stooped to foster multiculturalism in place of American values. What a disgrace.
If they can’t accommodate Christian and Catholic students in Metro national schools, they should not accommodate Muslims in any form or fashion either.. be it prayer or diet
This is very true! Why do the school leaders allow this? They are pressured by these groups and it is unfair to American taxpayers to keep allowing this to happen. We pay into the school systems for years only to have this happen? What about using this money to help with better curriculum for reading and math for instance. They need to help with education, not indoctrination.