A New Jersey school board voted to remove all holiday names from the school calendar in the name of inclusivity.
The Randolph Township Board of Education opted to replace holiday names with “days off” on all school calendars. According to CBS New York, the Board claims it made the decision following feedback from the community, which allegedly wants more “inclusive and equitable” policies.
The school board removed holidays such as Thanksgiving, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Christmas. The district already changed Columbus Day to “Italian Heritage/Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
Following the calendar changes, community members assembled a Change.org petition calling for the board members and the superintendent to resign. By Thursday afternoon, the petition amassed more than 4,000 signatures.
The petition reads:
[Superintendent] Jen Fano and all of the Board of Education Members have disgraced our community and clearly do not have the best interest of our children in anything they do. They represent everything that is wrong in education today and are completely incompetent in every aspect of their role.
This petition is to gather support from all Randolph township residents and Randolph schools faculty members in asking for the IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION of superintendent Fano and ALL board members.
In the comments section, parents expressed their outrage over the school district’s alleged shift towards teaching radical critical race theory. One parent, Micahel Cantaluppi, claimed that the district was indoctrinating kids “to hate their own country.”
“Disappointing to see Randolph fold to the woke liberal left. Instead of focusing on educating children of all ages, these school boards and liberal teachers are determined to enforce their political agenda, as well as indoctrinate kids to hate their own country,” Cantaluppi said. “This is a huge wake up call for Randolph families and students. Any school board or teacher responsible for promoting critical race theory must be held accountable. Absolutely disgusting.”
Another parent, mother Laura Assante, alleges that the administration no longer upholds the values of the community.
“The administration doesn’t care about our kids or community. They’re dishonest and non-transparent in all they do. They’re divisive, not inclusive. And we all pay too much in taxes for this kind of treatment,” Assante said. “Now they’ve cancelled [sic] our holidays. How will students learn about the significance of these days if our board doesn’t even deem them important enough to keep on the calendar? Enough! It’s time now to cancel the BOE and get a new, honest administration in place who values our children and community.”
Other parents feel the decision — particularly the decision to erase Christopher Columbus Day from the calendar — erases important aspects of U.S. history.
“This type of thinking dismisses the blending culture of traditions that have created our American experience,” said Randolph resident Maura Clow. “The United States was not born in a vacuum, it is a 245-year-old experiment in liberty.”
Education board member Susan DeVito told NJ.com that the board aims to be “on the right side of history” as it learns more information about Christopher Columbus.
“Just because his name has always been on the calendar doesn’t mean it always should be, DeVito said.
According to the Daily Caller, Randolph Township adds to a growing list of over 100 cities and states that no longer recognize Columbus Day as an official holiday.