Syosset School Board Votes to Recognize Hindu Festival as Official Holiday

The Syosset School District recently voted to recognize Hindu festivals as official school holidays after a student recently started a petition to give students the day off for Diwali.

The school board unanimously voted to approve the petition effective for the 2017-2018 school year at a board meeting on Monday night.

Syosset High School is now the first school on Long Island to recognize the holiday.

Niki Bhatia, of Woodbury, started the petition, addressed to Superintendent of the Syosset Central School District Dr. Thomas Rogers, on Change.org.

"The Indian/South Asian/Hindu population accounts for a good percentage of the overall student body of the Syosset School District," the petition reads. "It is difficult to get exact statistics, but working within the district, I would venture to say that at least 10-15%, if not more of the students in some schools, are of Indian decent."

Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, is one of the most prominent and famous Hindu festivals of India.

This year the five-day festival will take place from Friday, Oct. 28 to Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Previously, students had the option to take the day off and make up the missed work, however local parents are hesitant to allow their child to miss school and save the celebration for the weekend, according to the petition.

"With the changing demographics, the district needs to embrace the diversity and recognize Diwali as a formal holiday as part of it's school calendar of days off."

The petition has received a total of 619 signatures.