Toms River Regional urged to bring back Columbus Day holiday for students
TOMS RIVER - No, Toms River Regional leaders insist, they are not "canceling" Columbus Day by removing it as a holiday from this year's school district calendar.
Leaders of some Italian-American organizations have strongly criticized the move, even after being told by Superintendent Mike Citta that lessons about Christopher Columbus and Italian heritage will continue to be taught in district classrooms.
They say that eliminating the holiday for students helps feed the growing nationwide controversy that has surrounded the commemoration of the day in 1492 that explorer Christopher Columbus made landfall in the "New World."
Andre' DiMino of Brick, communications director for the Italian-American One Voice Coalition, said the district "said goodbye to Columbus," sending a message that Columbus Day is "out" in Toms River schools. The coalition includes nearly 40 organizations, he said.
Related:What is Indigenous Peoples' Day? Does it replace Columbus Day? Everything you need to know
"You have given ammunition to the nationwide attack on Columbus and Italian-American history," DeMino said. "Of all places, in Toms River, with such a large amount of Italian-Americans." He noted that Columbus Day remains a federal holiday, and said it's a source of pride for Italian-Americans, many of whom suffered discrimination when they immigrated to this country.
About 30,000 Toms River residents claim Italian-American heritage, or nearly a third of the town's residents.
Citta, who is Italian-American, said the decision to revise the calendar and remove the Oct. 10 Columbus Day holiday for students was done for no other reason than to shorten the school year, and not to insult those of Italian heritage. He noted that staff members already were scheduled to be in school on Oct. 10 for professional training.
"Toms River has been in and out of school with students, historically, on Columbus Day, throughout its existence," Citta said. "The last 10 years, it's been a professional day for teachers." He stressed that Columbus is not being removed from the district's curriculum, and lessons about him and the contributions of Italians will be taught on Oct. 10.
The last day of school along with high school graduations were initially set for a tentative date of June 20, a Wednesday, the day after the Juneteenth holiday. The last day of school and the graduations have a new tentative date of June 16, a Friday.
The state requires districts to have 180 school days a year.
The earlier graduation date will allow students to start summer jobs and have more time to prepare for college or to go on vacations, he said. "We're a shore community," Citta said, noting many older students work in tourism-related jobs.
Of course, the last day of school could be pushed back if there is severe weather.
Toms River has for years done something similar with Veterans Day, Citta said, with students attending classes on that holiday and meeting local veterans who share their stories. Toms River Regional also sends high school bands and about 2,800 students to the Ocean County Veterans Day Parade, which is held in downtown Toms River.
The district also supports he Ocean County Columbus Day Parade, scheduled for Seaside Heights on Oct. 9; Toms River high school bands traditionally march in the parade.
Citta said he had received many telephone calls, including an irate one from his father, after headlines and social media posts claimed Columbus Day was being "canceled" by the district. The Columbus Day Parade Committee is among the groups that have criticized the district's decision to have students in school that day.
He said almost all callers were supportive when they realized Toms River Regional was going to continue to mark Columbus Day.
"I really do genuinely feel badly that some people thought that was what was happening," he said. "I wouldn't cancel my own culture."
"I also am Italian," said Board of Education President Jennifer Howe. "We are not canceling anything. The kids are learning about Columbus Day and Italian-American heritage in the classrooms."
Historians have noted that Columbus was not the first European to set foot in the Americas. Indigenous Peoples Day has replaced Columbus Day in some towns and school districts, recognizing the contributions of native people who lived in the Americas longbefore Columbus arrived.
There also has been pushback on those changes from Italian-American groups; Randolph's school board chose to list the Columbus Day holiday on its school calendar this year. That marked an about-face after the board replaced the holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day, and then removed the names of all holidays following criticism about the change.
"You hit a nerve when you start talking about Columbus," Toms River resident Robert DiBiase, who chairs the New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission, told the school board. He noted that Columbus' achievements, and the celebration of the contributions of those of Italian heritage, are important, given the discrimination many Italians suffered after coming to America.
DiBiase pointed out that most students do not learn about the 1891 mass lynching of 11 innocent Italian-American immigrants in New Orleans by a mob incensed that some of them had been acquitted at a trial for the murder of the city's police chief. DiBiase read a passage from the New York Times that was sympathetic to the lynch mob, describing the victims as "descendants of bandits and assassins." Most of those lynched were Sicilians, described by the Times as "sneaking and cowardly."
President Benjamin Harrison declared the first national celebration of Columbus Day in 1892 as part of an effort to ease tensions between Italy and the U.S. following the killings, DiBiase noted.
"This is why Columbus is sacrosanct to us," DiBiase told the board. "....You are doing a fantastic job....please don't be remembered for taking away Columbus Day."
DiBiase said he was pleased that Toms River Regional is including lessons for students from a free Italian heritage curriculum the commission has made available to school districts.
Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com.
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This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Columbus Day: Toms River schools urged to bring back holiday
