Students and residents ask Bernards Township school board to add Lunar New Year as official holiday; board refers matter to policy committee

At a January meeting of the Bernards Township Board of Education, students and residents urged the district to designate Lunar New Year as an official school holiday, arguing the day is widely observed in the community and can be accommodated without materially disrupting the school calendar.

Student government representative MJ opened public remarks with student-led efforts to bring attention to Lunar New Year and other school concerns, and multiple public-comment speakers followed. "For us Asian Americans, this is almost like a connecting tissue," said Hao Zhang, a Bernards Township resident, explaining why the day matters to immigrant families who travel and gather with relatives.

Student and parent speakers described the holiday as culturally significant and said recognizing it would signal respect and inclusion for Asian students. "It's about fairness and representation," said Charlie Sri, a William Annin Middle School student, who cited his view that roughly 37% of the local population observes the holiday and pointed to neighboring districts that already close for Lunar New Year. "This isn't about special treatment. It's about reflecting the reality of our diverse community."

Speakers also offered practical arguments. David Ding, a resident who said he teaches at Rutgers, presented calendar options and said the district could swap a service day or use the existing flexible holiday pool to avoid extending the school year in most years. "Over the next 20 years, Lunar New Year actually falls on the weekend nearly 30% of the time," Ding said, and he offered to share his analysis with the board by email.

Other commenters, including Ridge High School students Oscar Liu and Evelyn Xu, framed recognition as part of a broader effort to counter anti-Asian discrimination and to make minority students feel visible and respected in the district. Oscar Liu cited national research about increased anti-Asian incidents online and said local policies could reinforce an inclusive message; Evelyn Xu told a story about being dismissed by classmates and said recognition would be a matter of dignity.

Board members and Superintendent Markarian heard the comments but did not vote. "We are working on this question with our policy committee, which tonight was just reformed for the 2026 school year," Markarian said, adding that the committee will report back to the full board as it develops recommendations. No board action to add Lunar New Year to the calendar was taken at the meeting.

Speakers offered differing factual claims during public comment that the board will need to review: several cited a 37% local figure for residents who celebrate Lunar New Year and noted that some neighboring districts close for the holiday; those assertions were presented as community-sourced data or personal observation and were not independently verified during the meeting.

The board did take routine votes on agenda business at the meeting, including approval of minutes and committee items; those votes were unrelated to the Lunar New Year request. The policy committee is expected to take up the holiday proposal at its next meeting and provide a formal recommendation for the board to consider at a later date.

In closing public comment the board thanked speakers for their input and said staff and policy members would continue the conversation ahead of the February meetings.