Halloween Cancelled Due To 'Diversity': Maplewood School Principal Nixes Holiday Celebrations

Halloween has been cancelled at Seth Boyden Elementary School in Maplewood… again.

On Monday, Principal Mark Quiles sent a letter to parents and guardians in the school district, informing them of the school’s plans to not hold any in-school Halloween activities on Friday, Oct. 30.

According to Maplewoodian.com, the letter stated:

“As we all know, one of the strengths of Seth Boyden is that we are such a diverse community, with many cultures represented, and that we truly value each one. In the past, in-school celebrations of Halloween have made many of our students feel left out – last year 120 students did not participate in the celebrations, and many other families kept their children home on that day. In total, 20 percent of our students did not participate.”

Quiles added:

“The children who enjoy this holiday will still have ample opportunities to celebrate, including the annual Maplewood event on Baker Street and Maplewood Avenue on Friday after school, and the usual trick or treating activities on Saturday, Oct. 31, the actual day of Halloween, throughout our towns.”

Quiles attempted to cancel Halloween celebrations at the school last year, sending out a similar letter to parents/guardians on Oct. 13, 2014.

• See related article: Seth Boyden Halloween Celebrations: Back From The Dead

“I cannot, in good conscience, continue to sanction this type of segregation,” Quiles stated in the 2014 letter.

“It is inconsistent with the values of our school community to allow activities that will encroach on the educational opportunities of others and threaten a culture of tolerance and respect for all,” Quiles added.

Halloween activities were rescheduled shortly afterwards that year when South Orange Maplewood School District Acting Superintendent James Memoli sent out a letter reversing Quiles’ decision.

“The District Administrative Team will discuss these issues in the coming months and determine a district-wide approach to Halloween for 2015,” Memoli stated last year.

AN “AMERICAN TRADITION”

The Maplewood school is not alone in its attempt to ban Halloween this year.

Last week, parents in Milford, Connecticut, raised an outcry when school officials decided to cancel Halloween activities because of diversity concerns, Yahoo Parenting reported.

So far, more than 5,000 supporters have signed their support for a Change.org petition in opposition to the Connecticut school’s Halloween ban.

“Growing up in America there are certain traditions and celebrations we have become accustomed to celebrating at home and during school,” the petition’s organizer, Rebecca Lilley, wrote.

“Saying the Pledge of Allegiance, Halloween parades, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day parties and dances and Easter. These are our American customs and traditions and we should not have to give them up because others find them offensive,” Lilley opined.

“Halloween is a basic American tradition that has been experienced by many kids for years and is a crucial part in the development of childhood experiences,” one supporter wrote. “Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, it is an event which unites communities together for one night in a common goal of happiness and entertainment to our youth, something that we know all too well is disappearing in America.”

School administrators in Milford recently reversed their decision but criticized the public blowback, stating that “the misinformation around the decisions the school made tied to celebrating Halloween is huge, and the spreading of untruths by parents and members of the community very disturbing.”

• See related article: Milford Schools Reverse Decision, Halloween Parades Will Go On

File photo courtesy of Jelene Morris via flickr

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