Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration is expected on Tuesday to add the Lunar
New Year to the New York public school calendar, allowing the city’s Asian
families to celebrate an important holiday with their children without
tarnishing attendance records.
Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, pledged to make the change during the 2013 mayoral
campaign, but by agreeing to the move now, he avoids a potentially political
embarrassment. With a pending bill in Albany that would have added the holiday
to the calendar, the mayor faced the uncomfortable prospect of the State
Legislature’s enacting his own campaign pledge for him, without the imprimatur
of City Hall.
The Lunar New Year is celebrated throughout many parts of Asia. When it falls
on a school day, some city schools with large Asian populations have more than
half their students absent that day.
“Finally, students of Asian descent will not be forced to choose between
observing the most important holiday of the year and missing important academic
work,” Councilwoman Margaret Chin, a Democrat of Lower Manhattan, said in a
statement. “Lunar New Year is a deeply important cultural observance for nearly
15 percent of public school students, and this designation gives Lunar New Year
the respect and recognition it has long deserved.”
This move comes just three months after the de Blasio administration added
two Muslim holy days to the school calendar, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Mr. de
Blasio’s predecessor, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, had declined to do so, saying
children needed more time in school.
In New York State, schools must have at least 180 days of instruction each
year. To accommodate the new time off without losing time in the classroom, the
de Blasio administration said it planned to convert two half-days to full days.
The new schedule will go into effect this coming school year, with the holiday
falling on Feb. 8.
State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, a Democrat whose district includes
Manhattan’s Chinatown, said the inclusion of the holiday signaled, in part, the
increased political presence of the city’s Asian community.
“There’s no question this reflects the changing city and the changing
significance of the holiday to this city,” Mr. Squadron said.
New York is not the first city to add this holiday to its school calendar.
Public schools in San Francisco, for example, have observed the holiday for
several years.
The de Blasio administration made the announcement about Lunar New Year on
Twitter on Monday evening, saying it was “working toward a more inclusive city.”
The city also posted the news in Mandarin and Korean.
