Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assemblywoman Grace Meng today announced passage of legislation that directs boards of education or trustees to determine if a school should be closed on a day when student attendance is likely to be exceptionally low due to a religious or cultural day of observance.

"This allows school districts to recognize that certain holidays - including Lunar New Year day, which a great number of my constituents celebrate - greatly impact student attendance," said Silver. "I congratulate my colleagues on recognizing the value of our educational resources and ensuring that they are not wasted."

Assemblywoman Grace Meng, the bill's sponsor, said of the measure, "It is impractical to hold school session when a religious or cultural holiday like Lunar New Year day keeps a considerable proportion of students out of school. Failure of school districts to recognize that students are unable to attend school on these important days of worship, reunion, and celebration may result in an inefficient use of our schools' resources."

The measure (A.10392/Meng) requires boards of education or trustees to determine whether school should be closed on a day where, if school were to be in session, student absenteeism would result in a waste of educational resources.