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Lunar New Year Added to Public School Holidays

June 25, 2015

Public school students are used to having time off on New Year's Day and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Now, the Lunar New Year will enjoy similar status.

"It's an official school holiday, like Christmas," said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The Lunar New Year, which will be February 8 in 2016, is celebrated across Asia and by many of the city's 175,000 public school students of Asian decent. Take P.S. 32 in Chinatown, where less than one-third of the students attended on that day last year.

"The Asian-American community continues to grow and mature, and the move to establish a school holiday is the right and fair decision," said Rep. Grace Meng of Queens.