What's happening
This bill makes St. Patrick's Day a school holiday for public schools in New York City, requiring schools to close on March 17.
Why it matters
Recognizes and elevates Irish heritage. By making St. Patrick's Day an official school holiday in NYC, the bill formally acknowledges the cultural and historical significance of the city’s large Irish-American community, potentially boosting civic pride and inclusivity.
Impacts school scheduling and calendar planning. Schools will need to adjust academic calendars to accommodate this additional holiday, which may affect instructional days, exam schedules, and school events, requiring careful planning from educators and administrators.
Protects school funding and compliance. The bill ensures that closing schools on St. Patrick’s Day won’t penalize districts in state aid calculations or mandates for minimum instructional days—treating the holiday as a regular session day for funding purposes and avoiding any financial loss.
Could set a precedent for other cultural holidays. Establishing a new school holiday for a specific ethnic or cultural group might lead to similar requests from other communities, potentially influencing future debates on school closures and cultural recognition.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Make St. Patrick's Day School Holiday
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Assembly Member · Assembly District 23
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Make St. Patrick’s Day School Holiday
In Senate Committee · Rules · Sponsor Tony Avella
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6360
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 6, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the St. Patrick's Day school holiday
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3204-a to read as follows:
§ 3204-a. St. Patrick's Day school holiday. 1. The 17th day of March, commonly known as St. Patrick's day, shall be a school holiday for all public schools in a qualified school district.
2. A qualified school district, for purposes of this section, shall mean a city school district of a city having a population of one million or more inhabitants.
3. The school authorities of a qualified school district are hereby authorized and directed to cause all public schools within such district to be closed on St. Patrick's day.
§ 2. Section 3604 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 7-c to read as follows:
7-c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of any calculation under subdivision seven or eight of this section, the commissioner shall disregard any reduction resulting from observance of St. Patrick's day and, if necessary, such observed holiday shall be calculated as a session day.
§ 3. 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 provision of this act on its effective date may be promulgated and taken, respectively, on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01184-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.