After some creative scheduling, Mayor DeBlasio announced on June 23 that the Department of Education would be adding the Lunar New Year as a holiday for the coming 2015–16 school year.
Combining two half-days set aside for teachers’ administrative work, the Department of Education has managed to include one more day off for the city’s public school students without dipping under the minimum 180 days required for a full school year.
The Lunar New Year, which moves around the solar-based Gregorian calendar, but falls on Feb. 8 next year, is a significant event for many Asian cultures — known most prominently for marking the Chinese New Year. In heavily Asian neighborhoods such as Sunset Park, the lack of a formal school holiday has resulted in attendance rates as low as 20 percent for the day in previous years.
“I’m so glad that this has been passed, we have been waiting for this a very long time,” said Jerry Chan, director of general affairs for Brooklyn Asian Communities Empowerment, and a parent with children public school. “It’s my hope that by passing this, the rest of the nation will follow.”
This marks the third new holiday added to the Department of Education’s calendar in DeBlasio’s tenure as mayor, with the Islamic holy days of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha being added to the calendar last spring. He promised to recognize all the three holidays during his mayoral campaign.
“We are proud to be the largest school district in the nation to recognize the heritage of our Asian-American community by recognizing Lunar New Year.” DeBlasio said in his announcement.
The push to designate the Lunar New Year a school holiday has been in the works since last year, with the state legislature passing a bill — sponsored in the state Senate by state Sen. Marty Golden (R–Bay Ridge) — that required all cities with Asian populations of 7.5 percent or greater to recognize the holiday.
But there are other communities that are still waiting for recognition from the Department of Education. Hindus, for example, would like to see Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, added to the school calendar as well.
“Holidays of all major religions should be honored and no one should be penalized for practicing their religion,” said Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism in a statement released after the Lunar New Year announcement.
Chan agreed, acknowledging that Hindus still face the dilemma his family never will again.
“We shouldn’t be forced to take our kids out of school to celebrate our heritage, the Hindu community should have a day,” Chan said. “Either you give none, or you give all.”
