S 8501: Allows school districts to opt out of observing any state-designated cultural or religious holiday when less than ten percent of the school population observes such state-designated cultural or religious holiday.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8501 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE September 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to allowing school districts to opt out of observing any state-designated cultural or religious holiday The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 3604 of the education law is amended by adding a 2 new subdivision 8-c to read as follows: 3 8-c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, school districts may 4 opt out of observing any state-designated cultural or religious holiday 5 when less than ten percent of the school population observes such state- 6 designated cultural or religious holiday. Notwithstanding any other 7 provision of law, school districts should make reasonable accommodations 8 for those students participating in a state-designated cultural or reli- 9 gious holiday, when such state-designated cultural or religious holiday 10 is not officially observed district-wide pursuant to this subdivision. 11 This subdivision does not apply when any cultural or religious holiday 12 is designated by the federal government. School districts may not elect 13 to opt out of any cultural or religious holiday designated by the feder- 14 al government, for the purposes of this subdivision. 15 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13740-01-5