BILL NUMBER: S4167

SPONSOR: ADDABBO
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
establishing the St. Patrick's Day school holiday

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Establishes St. Patrick's day as a school holiday for all city school
districts of one million or more with an Irish-American population of
7.5% or more

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of this bill amends the Education Law by adding a new section
3204a, which provides for a school holiday for St. Patrick's Day in a
city school district having a population of one million or more inhabit-
ants.

Section 2 of this bill adds a new subdivision 7-c to section 3604 of the
Education Law, which states that the Education Commissioner shall disre-
              

gard any reduction in attendance resulting from observance of St.
Patrick's Day and may be counted as a session day if necessary.

Section 3 provides that this act shall take effect on the one hundred
twentieth day after it shall have become a law; provided that any and
all rules and regulations and any other measures necessary to implement
any provisions of this act on its effective date may be promulgated and
taken, respectively, on or before such effective date.

 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):

 
JUSTIFICATION:

St. Patrick's Day is the oldest cultural celebration in the Irish-Ameri-
can community. It is a traditional time of reunion and celebration with
family and friends, as well as a holy day of obligation for Irish
Catholics. However, public schools do not close for that day and educa-
tion authorities have even gone so far as to use the evening of this day
for parent-teacher conferences. This places an unfair burden on school
children, parents, and teachers within the Irish-American community. It
is impractical to keep public schools open in Irish-American communities
when there is a significant number of students and instructors who take
the day off.

In 2014, the Governor approved legislation (Chapter 491) directing
school districts to determine whether school session should be held on a
day where a religious or cultural holiday would lead to a waste of
educational resources due to significant absenteeism. Considering that a
large Irish-American population in New York City is impacted by St.
Patrick's Day, schools should be closed for the observance Of this holi-
day, or if school is in session, a child's inability to attend school on
this holiday should be disregarded.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall become a law.