The Iowa City School District in Iowa City, Iowa recently announced that they’ve approved a day off to accommodate Lunar New Year for the next three years. Lunar New Year is an important holiday celebrated in a number of Asian cultures. A resolution to recognize the holiday was first drafted in response to a petition started by the Iowa City Area Chinese Association after the school district approved days off to accommodate Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday, and Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday.

Community leaders in the association were alarmed that there were no holidays representing the Asian community - their petition quickly garnered more than 1,369 signatures. “Therefore, we feel the urge to request that the Board consider recognizing Lunar New Year as a school district holiday so that our large Asian American student population can celebrate this holiday with their family, and their classmates can know more about the biggest Asian holiday,” the petition said.

In recognizing the holiday, school board member J.P. Claussen told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that providing a day off around the Lunar New Year holiday is one example of how the district is trying to be more inclusive and responsive to the increase in diversity in the county. “On one hand, it's symbolic. But on the other hand, for families who celebrate these holidays, it's not symbolic at all. It's just very practical and allows them to celebrate their culture in a way that doesn't interfere with their education,” Claussen said. “And I think, to me, that's just respectful of different cultures. And that's what we're attempting to do.”