TOMS RIVER, NJ – An earlier version of the Toms River School District 2022-23 school calendar had the school year ending on June 20th, giving students off on June 19th, officially recognized as Juneteenth. After complaints, the board shuffled the schedule to complete the school year on June 16th but removed the Columbus Day holiday instead.
Students will now have Juneteenth off after the school year ends prior to that holiday.
The decision to remove Columbus Day which has historically been an in-service work day for teachers and staff, but a holiday for students drew the ire I’ve several local and state Italian-American Heritage organizations.
Robert DiBiase, director of the New Jersey Italian-American Heritage Commission had called upon school officials to rethink their decision to do away with the day which is closely linked to Italian American history.
Toms River Regional School District superintendent Michael Citta said the district did not cancel Columbus, and after discussions with DiBiase and his organization said students will learn about the history of Columbus and Italian-American Heritage while in school during the holiday.
“In no way was the move intended to remove the holiday from the district or community,” Citta said. “As you know, most schools nationwide and statewide have school on Columbus Day, as Toms River has done in the past as well.”
Instead, Citta said the change was made only to allow the school year to end on June 16th instead of the previous ending on June 20th.
DiBiase said this change was an affront to the Italian American culture and believes the change was made instead to accommodate the Juneteenth holiday. DiBiase said that the district should embrace and educate students on all cultures and treat all cultural holidays equally.
Andre Dimino, the president of the Italian American One Voice Coalition said the decision by the district was an insult to the Italian American community in Toms River and New Jersey.
Columbus Day this year is on Monday, October 10th. It is still recognized as a federal holiday and is also referred to now as Indigenous People’s Day after an official proclamation in 2021 by President Joe Biden.
Many Italian Americans in the United States feel that the left it’s trying to replace Columbus Day with the new Indigenous People’s Day Holiday.
Ocean County and Toms River it’s home to a very large Italian-American population. Most surrounding school districts in Ocean County are still recognizing Columbus Day as an official holiday where schools will remain closed.