A5290

An Act concerning Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, amending N.J.S.11A:6-6, and supplementing chapter 36 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. N.J.S.11A:6-6 is amended to read as follows:

11A:6-6. State administrative leave. Administrative leave for personal reasons including religious observances for full-time State employees or those employees of Rutgers, The State University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rowan University, Montclair State University, and Kean University who perform services similar to those performed by employees of the New Jersey State colleges who are in the career service shall be three working days per calendar year. Administrative leave shall not be cumulative and any administrative leave unused by an employee at the end of any year shall be cancelled. One additional day of administrative leave per calendar year shall be granted to an employee pursuant to this section if that employee is absent from work in observance of Eid al-Fitr. One additional day of administrative leave per calendar year shall be granted to an employee pursuant to this section if that employee is absent from work in observance of or Eid al-Adha.

(cf: P.L.2021, c.282, s.34)

2. (New section) a. Any student of a public school who is absent from school on the day designated and known as Eid al-Fitr or the day designated and known as Eid al-Adha, due to the observance of those religious holidays, shall have the absence for those reasons recorded as an excused absence.

b. In accordance with N.J.S.18A:36-15, a student absence because of the observance of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha shall be recorded as an excused absence on the student’s attendance record or on that of any group or class of which the student is a member. Any transcript or application or employment form or any similar form on which information concerning a pupil’s attendance record is requested shall show, with respect to school absences, only absences other than absences excused because of the observance of Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, or of any other religious holidays or because of any other reasons provided by law.

c. In accordance with N.J.S.18A:36-14, a student who is absent from school due to the observance of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha shall not by reason of such absence be deprived of any award or of eligibility or opportunity to compete for any award, or of the right to take an alternate test or examination, for any which the student missed by reason of such absence, if a written excuse signed by a parent or guardian of the student be presented to the proper school authority.

d. The rules relative to absences for religious holidays prescribed by the Commissioner of Education and approved by the State Board of Education pursuant to N.J.S.18A:36-16 shall ensure that absence from school due to the observance of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha is an excused absence. The list of holidays on which it shall be mandatory to excuse a student, prescribed by the commissioner with the approval of the State board pursuant to N.J.S.18A:36-16, shall include Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill provides that full-time State employees would be able to be absent from work for the purposes of observing Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, without that absence counting toward their administrative leave allotment. The bill also explicitly requires that a student’s absence from school due to the observance of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha will be an excused absence for the purposes of recording attendance.

Muslims celebrate two main holidays every lunar year, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Eid al-Fitr, which means “festival of the breaking of the fast,” is celebrated first at the conclusion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Muslims in the United States observe this month of sacrifice and contemplation by fasting, reading the Holy Quran, and participating in charity work, worship, and emphasizing self-discipline. Eid al-Adha, the “feast of the sacrifice,” is celebrated two months later and commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. Eid al-Adha is the more sacred of the two Eids, and often coincides with the completion of the Hajj pilgrimage, an annual Islamic pilgrimage in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Under the bill, one additional day of administrative leave per calendar year would be granted to an employee if that employee is absent from work in observance of Eid al-Fitr. Similarly, one additional day of administrative leave per calendar year would be granted to an employee if that employee is absent from work in observance of or Eid al-Adha.

This bill would require a school district to record an excused absence for a student who is absent from school due to the observance of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha. The bill also provides that a student absence because of the observance of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha would not be included on any transcript or application or employment form or any similar form on which information concerning a pupil’s attendance record is requested. Further, if the student presents a written excuse signed by a parent or guardian, the bill provides that a student absent from school because of the observance of the two holidays would: (1) not be deprived of any award or eligibility or opportunity to compete for any award due to the absence; and (2) would be given the opportunity to take an alternate test or examination if they miss a test or examination due to the absence from school.