Columbus Day Cancellation In Toms River Schools Sparks Complaints

TOMS RIVER, NJ — An update removing the Columbus Day holiday from the Toms River Regional Schools' calendar for the 2022-23 school year is drawing complaints from some in the community, but the superintendent says it was done solely to shorten the school year.

Columbus Day was scheduled to be a day off for students but a professional development day for staff on the calendar approved in the spring. That calendar had school ending on June 20.

The change, approved at Wednesday's Board of Education meeting, makes the last day of school June 16. It had some in the community, including the Ocean County Columbus Day Parade Committee, crying foul.

"The Ocean County Columbus Day Parade Committee is upset to hear that the Toms River Regional School District has removed the Columbus Day holiday from their 2022-2023 calendar. We urge everyone to reach out to the school district to get Columbus Day reinstated on this year's calendar," the organization wrote in a post on its Facebook page. The Ocean County Columbus Day Parade is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 9.

Superintendent Michael Citta said the change was simply about ending the school year earlier and reducing the disruptions in instruction at the start of the year.

New Jersey school districts are required to have 180 days in school for students. The original Toms River Regional Schools 2022-23 calendar was one day shy of being able to end on June 16, Citta said. Removing the Columbus Day holiday for students allowed the district to avoid a Tuesday end of the year. Juneteenth, which falls on June 19, would have been a day off.

Citta acknowledged that effort could be for naught if there are emergency closures because of bad weather. The district does not have any emergency closure days built in.

"It's about trying to get the most continuity at the beginning of the year," Citta said.

In addition, ending the school year earlier allows high school students who want to work to start doing sooner, and gives graduates who are heading off to college a bit more time to prepare for that next adventure.

"We're a shore community; the kids need to work," he said. "And colleges are starting earlier and earlier."

Removing the Columbus Day holiday for students was in part because it already was a work day for staff, Citta said.

"That was the easiest this year in trying to transform the calendar," he said. The updated calendar also removed four half-days that were scheduled for professional development for teachers, which Citta said should make it easier for parents who no longer need to seek child care on those dates.

While a few New Jersey towns now mark Indigenous Peoples' Day, coinciding with Columbus Day, to honor the contributions of Native Americans — a move that has been controversial in some areas, including Randolph, which took holiday names off its school calendar briefly last year — Citta said the change in Toms River had nothing to do with that.

"We go to school on Veterans Day," said Citta, who noted he is an Italian American and was a history teacher. "I think we can do more for kids on those days than taking off. It's more about having a fluid year for them without disruption."

The removal of the Columbus Day holiday could be revisited, Citta said. Longer term, however, he is looking to remove the three days off in November that precede the New Jersey teachers convention, by getting the district's schools removed as polling places.

"It's simply about trying to get the most continuity at the beginning of the year," Citta said.