"What I would compare it to is Christmas being the biggest holiday. "So, it is an important holiday," Liou said. Currently, Santoro doesn't believe that any members of the school committee are of Asian descent.Īngie Liou, executive director of the Asian Community Development Corporation, said several cultures celebrate Lunar New Year, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean cultures. I think maybe change is tough for them to actually see."Īccording to state data, 39.3% of students in Quincy are of Asian descent and make up the district's largest racial group. "And I don't think that they see that it's important to do it. We're not talking about a sub-group, we're talking about the majority," he said. "The majority of our students are of Asian descent. He the idea that recognizing the holiday would require the district to do the same for other groups is an unfounded concern. Santoro proposed the idea two years ago, but it went nowhere. Nation's first Cambodian American mayor takes office in Lowell 'Reunion, renewal and celebration:' Boston's Chinatown gears up for Lunar New Year festivities Members of the commmunity gathered again at the school committee meeting Wednesday to push for the addition of the holiday to the school's calendar. "To the Chinese and other Asian populations, Lunar New Year is a very, if not the most important, holiday in our cultures," Chen said.Ī subcommittee ended up not voting to support the proposal last week. One of the students, Angela Chen, is president of the school's Asian Culture Club. The push for the holiday to be included in the 2023-2034 calendar started last month, when three students at North Quincy High School, along with two members of the community, went before the committee to bring up the proposal. "I'm not comfortable with separating out one entity, one ethnicity group from the 40 flags and the 70 languages that we have in our schools, and saying that this one is more important than yours," said committee member Emily Lebo. Other members referenced the lack of historical precedent and questioned if they were to adopt holidays based on student demographics, how they would do that fairly. The vote was 6-1, with only committee vice chair Frank Santoro voicing support for the change. Students and family members in Quincy spurred a push to get Lunar New Year recognized as a school holiday for the district, but on Wednesday night Quincy School Committee members voted to approve a school calendar that does not include Lunar New Year as a day off.
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