New York 2025 Session Status: Introduced

S8501 — Allows school districts to opt out of observing any state-designated cultural or religious holiday

Last action — In Senate Committee

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed Assembly
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced September 10, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

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.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

1 change Share ↗

Compared against the New York Consolidated Laws as published AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

This bill amends 1 section(s) of the New York Consolidated Laws: Section 3604 of the education law.

  • Section 3604 of the education law

    8-c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, school districts may 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. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, school districts should make reasonable accommodations for those students participating in a state-designated cultural or reli- gious holiday, when such state-designated cultural or religious holiday is not officially observed district-wide pursuant to this subdivision. This subdivision does not apply when any cultural or religious holiday is designated by the federal government. School districts may not elect to opt out of any cultural or religious holiday designated by the feder- al government, for the purposes of this subdivision. italics

    added

Action History

  1. REFERRED TO EDUCATION

  2. REFERRED TO RULES

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 218 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (218)

218 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 218 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S8501 do?
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.
Who sponsors S8501?
S8501 is sponsored by Robert Ortt.
What is the current status of S8501?
This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced September 10, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S8501?
Track S8501 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on S8501

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of S8501

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →