NEW JERSEY, USA — A heated debate at a New Jersey school board meeting over renaming Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day on its school calendar ended with the decision to generically label all upcoming holiday's as a "day off."
Randolph Township Schools made the decision to move forward with a motion to take Columbus Day, in name only, off its calendar during a May meeting. The problem? The community was not only upset with the decision itself but they claimed lack of notification of the action.
Those in attendance claimed the decision created division and reinforces that "one group is better than another." According to the Board of Education's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Ad Hoc committee, the motion was put forward due to Columbus' role in U.S. history being called into question.
Tensions were high during the meeting as speakers making public comment could be heard on a meeting recording yelling and interrupting. At one point, at least one person was removed from the meeting for being disruptive.
To solve the situation, the school board put forth a motion to label all holidays and times students will not be in class as "day off" on its upcoming calendar. The motion was unanimously approved.
The change was made in an effort to avoid "hurt feelings" moving forward.
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