Some Italian American groups have expressed their displeasure that students in the Toms River School District had class on what is normally a holiday.

This is the first time in years that the district was open for students on Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day.

School officials say they did not intentionally remove the holiday from the school calendar. They needed to add a student day to reach the required 180 days of school.

Students spent the day learning about Christopher Columbus and Italian immigrants' contributions to the United States. The school district's lesson plans were created with Italian American organizations in the Garden State to ensure a similar understanding of the holiday across the district.

But some Italian Americans say they are frustrated and insulted that class will be in session on this day, and say it is part of a larger effort to erase Columbus from history.

The Italian American One Voice Coalition previously expressed their concerns and even attended a Toms River Board of Education Meeting to ask school officials to reconsider.

The group is also suing the town of West Orange for taking down its Christopher Columbus statue. The town believed the statue symbolized hate and oppression.