BILL NUMBER: S2504

SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to allowing for an alter-
nated holiday for pupils in all public schools in the borough of Brook-
lyn or in the borough of Queens

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would allow the NYC Board of Education the option of celebrat-
ing a religious or cultural holiday, such as ()Wail, in place of Anni-
versary Day.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 2586 of the education law is amended by adding a new section
that would allow the chancellor to require school attendance on anniver-
sary day, but must declare a public school holiday trail NYC students on
an alternate date in the same school year for a significant religious or
cultural holiday.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In addition to the observance of all federal holidays, the New York City
public school system has historically recognized and celebrated other
holidays of great significance by giving students a day off from school.
Most of these non-federal holidays are religious or cultural holidays
adhered to by a significant portion of the school population. If a
significant cultural or religious holiday is not reflected by the school
calendar, the students of the adherent population may be disadvantaged,
having to choose between celebrating an important holiday or being
absent from school, which can result in these students falling behind
their peers, missing lessons and tests, and having lower attendance
records.

One such holiday that has yet to be recognized by the New. York City
public school system is Diwali (also written as Deepavali). Diwali,
commonly known as the Festival of Lights, typically fails between Octo-
ber and November and corresponds with the New Year in the Bikrami calen-
dar. It is a major cultural and religious event for the South Asian
American community, especially for those who are atberents of Hinduism,
Sikhism, Jainism or Buddhism. New York City is home to the largest South
Asian American population in the US, and they are one of the fastest
growing demographics in New York.

However, due to limitations in the number of school days that can be
taken off, the NYC public school system has had to, be selective regard-
ing the religious or cultural holidays it observes, especially if many
of those holidays fall on weekdays. One obstade for additional signif-
icant religious and cultural holidays to be recognized has been the
mandatory observance of Anniversary Day (aka Brooklyn-Queens Day) by
state law. Anniversary Day is a school holiday for students in Brooklyn
and Queens, and it is the only non-federal holiday to be mandated by
state law for NYC students.

This bill would allow the NYC public school system to continue to cele-
brate Anniversary Day at its discretion or Instead use that day to cele-
brate another religious or cultural holiday of significant relevance to
its population. This would allow NYC to have the flexibility to decide
which holidays are most significant to its school population.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:;

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:;
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 24 the
date upon which it shall have become a law.