Should District 112 Drop Columbus Day?

HIGHLAND PARK, IL - A growing movement in recent years has been to move away from celebrating Columbus Day. The city of Evanston has a measure in place to replace the holiday with Indigenous Peoples Day, which would honor Native Americans instead of European immigrants.

Several North Shore School District 112 board members are also exploring the possibility, according to a report from the Highland Park News.

Community activist Victoria Ratnaswamy told the board in May she would like to see them be “on the right side of history.”

"Celebrating a ruthless, genocidal, torturing sex slaver who inflicted great human misery, among other documented historical facts, goes against our self-definition as a community that stands up to bullying and values good character," she said.

But making the move could be more difficult than it seems. A school district only has so many options in this case. They don’t have the power to rename the holiday, but it would be possible to hold school that day.

One of several roadblocks in dumping Columbus Day is the district’s strong desire to keep their school calendar in line with that of Township High School District 113 for family convenience reasons. District 113 has no plans to drop Columbus Day.

Board member Yumi Ross says the discussion has come up numerous times, but the board just keeps “hitting a brick wall.”

Board member Jane Solmor-Mordini says it’s an ethical question that should be addressed, however.

"Frankly, if this were Adolf Hitler Day, I would never think of backing down,” she said during a board meeting last week. "Since the majority of the board members sitting here are (of Jewish heritage), I don't think they would back down either."

"This is a teaching moment… We are a school district and it's an ethical question that needs to be addressed."

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