A New Jersey school district has wiped all holidays off its calendar in an effort to be more inclusive.
The Randolph Township Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to remove the names of all religious and secular holidays from the school calendar, opting for the more generic description: “Day Off.”
Holidays that will be removed from the calendar include Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and Indigenous Peoples Day, which was renamed from Columbus Day last month.
“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,” the board said in a statement, the New York Daily News reported.
“We agreed unanimously that the change would be both inclusive and equitable,” it 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.”
Local news outlet Tap Into Randolph described Thursday’s meeting as “emotionally charged” and “chaotic,” reporting that the board “suddenly” made the decision to erase all holidays after initially voting to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.
“As the vote went down the row with a unanimous ‘Yes,’ the stunned and confused public erupted once more, with some shouting at the board, ‘What just happened — What did you just do?’ prompting calls for security once more,” Tap Into Randolph reported.
No one was escorted out of the meeting, but a small group staged an impromptu walkout, the outlet reported.
