Framingham School Committee Rejects Columbus Day Name Switch

FRAMINGHAM, MA- The Framingham School Committee kicked off the new year by closing the discussion about switching the school calendar name from Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day with a vote. At Wednesday night's meeting the committee rejected the proposal to switch the names completely and instead added Indigenous People to the current name- observing both as a combined holiday.

Superintendent Robert Tremblay offered the compromise as part of his plan for the 2019-2020 school year calendar. A motion to remove Columbus Day from the calendar and replace it with Indigenous People's day failed in a 2-7 vote, with just Vice Chairwoman Gloria Pascual and member Tracey Bryant in favor. The motion to combine the two names passed in a 5-4 vote. Members Adam Freudberg, Beverly Hugo, Tiffanie Maskell, Noval Alexander and Geoff Epstein voted in favor of the combined day, and Tracey Bryant, Gloria Pascual, Rick Finlay and Scott Wadland rejected it.

A motion to swap the order of the two names, making Indigenous People's Day appear before Columbus Day, was suggested by Tracey Bryant, but failed in a 2-7 vote. Bryant said she suggested the switch to move away from a Eurocentric perspective.

The topic of changing the holiday name was brought to the school committee by Pascual, who also heads the Racial Equity subcommittee, after members of the public discussed it in her subcommittee meetings. Both Pascual and Bryant had cited the inclusion of Native Americans as part of the American History narrative in past meetings as reasons to switch the holiday.

Some members who were against the switch stated it wasn't in the committee's purview to change a federal holiday. Noval Alexander mentioned not only that the school committee does not have the authority to make the change but that recognizing both sides of history would be more beneficial to students. "It's no doubt that history is replete with good and bad people," Alexander said. "Erasing certain figures from history or attempting to rewrite history is not only a dangerous approach but we’d be doing our students a disservice," he continued.

Beverly Hugo highlighted the diversity in the city and said each group in Framingham should feel represented, but agreed that the compromise was the best approach. "By adding Indigenous People's, we're acknowledging the hurt and the history of hurt- but we're keeping it in context and staying within our purview of what our role is," Hugo said.

Pascual challenged the notion that changing the holiday was out of the committees purview, claiming the school calendar and names were not the same as changing or renaming a federal holiday on the city level. She also urged members to think of their constituents, who brought the proposal forward, and not their personal beliefs. Pascual praised the community for its engagement on the topic, “This is a good example of how our community is talking to us. This is a good opportunity to have a back and forth dialogue,” said Pascual.

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Photo Credit: Framingham Government Channel