Amid Columbus Dispute, Randolph Schools Take Names Off Holidays

RANDOLPH, NJ — Despite stated intentions of inclusivity, the Randolph Board of Education is facing a backlash for its decision to remove all holiday names from its school calendar. Weeks after changing Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day on its calendar, the board voted Thursday to eliminate all holiday names from the document.

Last month, the board followed a recommendation from its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Ad Hoc Committee to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day on the school calendar. The board faced backlash and protest from critics and Italian-American groups, who say the holiday recognizes their shared heritage.

The board changed course Thursday and instead opted to recognize all holidays originally on the school calendar as "days off."

The decision faced criticism from national media figures, including right-wing political commentator Dan Bongino. The analyst said on "Fox & Friends" that the decision represents an "ideological war" to make people sound xenophobic.

But the board says that children will still learn the history behind each holiday, and they have not changed any days off.

"Schools will still be closed on the days that we originally approved and our children will know why," said a Monday statement from the school board. "They will still continue to receive instruction in schools about these important historical events and the people behind them. Everyone should remember that the primary purpose of the school calendar is to inform parents when schools will be open and when schools will be closed."

A petition, which has about 1,100 signatures as of Monday morning, has emerged to reinstate Columbus Day on the school calendar. Petition organizer Franco Piarulli says they believe in celebrating indigenous peoples, but "let's do so without dividing and pitting one group against another," he wrote.

The Italian American One Voice Coalition — a group that sets to combat "negative stereotypes of Italian Americans" — has criticized the board for its decision to remove Columbus Day from the school calendar and then remove all names of holidays.

One Voice is currently suing West Orange for its decision to remove a Columbus monument. Italian-American groups, including One Voice, will join State Senator Anthony Bucco at 2 p.m. Monday to announce an action plan at Randolph Commons.

At May 13's school board meeting, Board Member Susan DeVito made a motion to change Columbus Day on the school calendar to Indigenous Peoples Day. The board voted in favor. But the topic wasn't on the meeting's agenda. Community members criticized the board's process, which they say didn't provide adequate notice for getting public input.

"In hindsight, I realize that if the motion was on the agenda, we would have received that input before the vote," Board Member Jeanne Stifelman wrote in TAPinto Randolph. "Our intention was not to exclude community input. Contrarily, the intention was to make sure all deliberations on the topic were out in the open."

Indigenous People's Day — celebrated at the same time as Columbus Day — celebrates Native Americans and commemorates their histories. It began as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day, which critics say sanitizes the violent history of Western colonization.

Historian Howard Zinn claimed in his book, "A People's History of the United States," that Columbus personally ordered the enslavement and mutilation of the native Arawak people in an attempt to repay his investors.

But advocates for Columbus Day say the explorer leaves a more complicated legacy.

"Somehow in our schools Columbus is the only person in history who is removed from his own historical context," the Randolph petition says. "Reputable primary sources show Columbus not responsible for all claimed. We ask that the BOE explore these sources and include in the Randolph Schools curricula."