Three Kings Day, or El Dia de Los Reyes, is celebrated on Jan. 6 to commemorate the day when three wise men arrived with gifts for baby Jesus.
“It is a religious holiday that is celebrated in countries all over the world,” Rep. Chris Rosaria (D-Bridgeport) said.
Several school districts already provide the day off so families can celebrate. But now, Rep. Chris Rosario wants to make sure students statewide can be excused from school without penalty.
“We just want to make sure our children are offered the opportunity to observe, to not be charged with absence,” Rosario said.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
Three Kings Day is predominantly celebrated by Puerto Rican and Latino Roman Catholics. According to the Connecticut Data Collaborative, there are more than 148,000 students who identify as Latino or Hispanic in the state.
Under the proposed bill, Connecticut schools would recognize Three Kings Day as a holiday or provide students with makeup work for observing the day.
“What this would do is allow the Department of Education to give those districts, whether they be in rural or suburban neighborhoods, to observe it but even if they don’t choose to observe it, to allow those students that do celebrate to observe the day without being penalized,” Rosario said.
Local
“We want to make sure that we are allowed the opportunity to observe a religious holiday, no different than Yom Kippur or Eid or any other religious holiday," he continued.
Meanwhile, preparations for Monday are underway. In Bridgeport, festivities will take place at Luis Munoz Marin School at 10 a.m.
In Hartford, the Three Kings Day parade will step off at 10 a.m. from Park Street and travel to Pope Park.
“It is a great event for the kids and for the culture of the Hispanic community here in Hartford,” SAMA and Hartford Three Kings Day Parade President Angel Sierra said.
There will be real-life camels and three kings.
“The people that we chose for kings, they are people who are community leaders and help us out in many, many ways,” Sierra said.
The kings will give out about 2,000 gifts to the kids in attendance.
