Lunar New Year is now a mandatory school holiday

Starting in 2024, Lunar New Year will be a mandatory public school holiday in New York — an unusual move as it is a state-mandated school holiday that is not a federal one.

The addition has ushered in a conversation about representation and the fact that there are many other cultural celebrations — and non-Christian holidays — that are not required to be days off by New York.

“Where does this end?” said Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, an Albany Democrat, this week when asked about the measure that was signed into law Sept. 9 by Gov. Kathy Hochul. “I do believe we have to be respectful but yeah, this does open the door to those conversations.”

Lunar New Year is a celebration recognizing the first new moon of the lunar calendar that is honored in many Asian countries including China, Korea and Vietnam. Typically falling in January or February, it is now the only state-required school holiday. Fahy is expecting more proposals for school holidays, and Hochul’s staff said she would review those if the Legislature passes them.

But the conversation has morphed into much more than just about whether the state should consider giving students more holidays off. Leaders say they’ll first have to solve a bigger problem: fitting the 180 required instruction days into the school year.

Schools already adjusted the calendar last year, after Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday in 2021 — the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1986.

Superintendents and educational leaders say the state should consider extending the school year — or dropping one of the midyear vacation weeks — to fit in additional holidays.

Right now, each school board can individually choose as a district to add in holidays — such as in Albany, Bethlehem, Niskayuna and Schenectady, which have the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur off, while most local districts do not. Some districts also take off the first day of the two-day Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and this year many Friday football games were moved to Thursday to avoid Rosh Hashanah, which began Friday at sundown.

New York City schools have many diverse holidays off, including Lunar New Year. Mayor Eric Adams recently added the Hindu celebration of Diwali.

The different school schedules can cause a logistical nightmare, particularly with athletic schedules and Regents testing. This year, New York decided not to schedule Regents exams June 17, which is during Eid al-Adha, one of the most important holidays observed by Muslims. But Eid al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of Ramadan, is April 10, which is still slated for state assessment tests.

“I would love to see some kind of standardized calendar across the state,” Schenectady schools Superintendent Anibal Soler Jr. said.

He was among many who said that the state was right to start requiring holidays like Lunar New Year. He wants a universal calendar so that his staff have the same days off as their children, who are often attending school in other districts.

“If their kids are off, it’s going to cause a potential hardship,” he said. “That’s why I think it needs to be uniform: everyone has these holidays.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations supports giving all students two floating holidays, which they can use for their religious celebrations.

“There are creative ways to include all of these events in school calendars,” spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.

But he acknowledged that doesn’t resolve problems with athletic schedules and testing dates.

So giving the actual day, like the state did for the Lunar New Year, is better, Hooper said.

“We’re encouraged whenever a minority community is recognized in this way,” he said. “And we would hope the American-Muslim community would be similarly recognized. I see it as an encouraging trend.”

Those of Asian descent represent about 10 percent of New York residents, according to the U.S. Census. They’re the fastest-growing demographic in the state. Jews represent about 8 percent of the state population, according to the American Jewish Population Project. The Muslim population is not as well tracked statewide, but 9 percent of New York City residents are Muslim and there is a growing population in the Capital Region. Hinduism — with two main holidays, Diwali and Holi — is also growing locally.

Schenectady added Holi to the school calendar last year, and added Yom Kippur this year.

But they could not add others, like Diwali and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

“We had to make tough decisions about which one we recognize,” Soler said. “It’s a struggle to add days to the calendar, given the confinement.”

Union agreements in Schenectady — and many other districts — say work can’t start before Sept. 1. And the state doesn’t count any academic days after the Regents exams, which can start around mid-June. In between those two requirements, the district must fit in 180 school days, all 10 federal holidays, and a few snow days.

It’s very tight, Fahy said. “Nothing against these holidays of tremendous importance, but there were mixed feelings about it” when the Legislature voted to add Lunar New Year, she said. “I know when I was on the (Albany) school board, the school calendar was so difficult. And now it’s even harder.”