After '5-hour shouting match,' NJ school board reverses decision to remove holidays from calendar

A New Jersey school board has voted to reverse its previous decision to remove named holidays from from its calendar after the board reportedly received threats.

What are the details?

According to a Tuesday report from WNBC-TV, the Randolph Township Board of Education in Randolph, New Jersey, previously announced that it was removing Columbus Day from the school calendar and changing it to Indigenous Peoples' Day. After parents complained, the board decided to rid the calendar of all named holidays, further enraging district parents. The station reported that the board, instead, opted to refer to any school vacation days as "days off."

"After a five-hour shouting match with parents at a New Jersey school district, the school board has reversed its decision to remove all holidays from the school calendar," WNBC reported.

According to Morristown Daily Record, attendees of the hours-long meeting witnessed an "onslaught of boos, jeers, calls for [board members' resignations], and about 50 speakers during the public session."

"The overwhelming majority of speakers accused the board of bringing what they called 'woke' and 'cancel culture' actions into their school system," the Record's William Westhoven reported Tuesday.

"All I want to say about all of this is that it's the road to communism," one concerned meeting attendee added, according to WNYW-TV.

Holiday Names Restored on Randolph, N.J., School Calendarwww.youtube.com

Earlier this month, after the district made the decision to remove all holiday names from the school calendar, a statement on the decision said, "After careful consideration of concerns introduced by both proponents of the change as well as those in opposition to the change, a motion was presented for consideration to stop using holiday titles on the district's calendar."

"We agreed unanimously that the change would be both inclusive and equitable," the statement continued. "Although we have made these changes to the school district's calendar, our decision to change the calendar titles will not impact the education of holidays as guided by the district's curriculum."

At the time, board member Dorene Roche said, "If we don't have anything on the calendar, we don't have to have anyone [with] hurt feelings or anything like that."

What are people saying about this now?

Board member Ronald Conti said that the decision set an "uncomfortable precedent."

"[This] sets an uncomfortable precedent that with enough threats, harassment, and intimidation, a select group — not necessarily Randolph voters — can force the district to its will," Conti complained.

Board member Jeanne M. Stifelman added, "The resolution seems to be an attempt to stop the slanted, inflammatory, and poorly reported nonsense of media outlets like Fox News channel."

The station notes that parents have begun circulating a petition to call on the board members to resign.