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

2 Co-sponsors

• Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.
• Martin J. Golden

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the St. Patrick's Day school holiday

Purpose

To establish St. Patrick's Day as a school holiday in the city of New York

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 inhabitants

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 disregard 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.

Justification

St. Patrick's Day is the oldest cultural celebration in the Irish-American 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 education 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 holiday, or if school is in session, a child's inability to attend school on this holiday should be disregarded.

Legislative history

New bill

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

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.