Emotions are still running high after the Randolph Township's Board of Education’s voted to remove the names of all holidays on the school calendar.

The Italian American One Voice Coalition rallied Sunday against the decision to mark holidays as a "Day Off” and not be specific about any holiday.  

Randolph education officials met Thursday to discuss and ultimately vote on removing holiday names from the calendar.

It was a heated meeting, in which some showed their anger over a board vote in May that renamed Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day. Members of the Italian American One Voice Coalition say it’s an insult to Italian Americans of New Jersey.

“That kind of takes away peoples’ nationalities to celebrate their heritage,” says Lisa Hubbard, of Dover. “So, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

The group is demanding that the Board of Education reverse the decision to remove all named holidays from its calendar. It is threatening action against the school board, giving it 30 days to rescind both the Columbus Day and removal of holiday decisions. 

“I can see both sides of it,” says Jonathan Reale, of Mine Hill. “Anytime a large change like that takes place, people who are upset about it are going to make themselves known.”

The organization has gone up against other towns, such as West Orange, where it sued the city for removing a statue of Christopher Columbus. The case has yet to be heard because of a backlog of cases caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Randolph School District responded with a statement, which in part reads, “Our actions are somehow being misconstrued by some to mean that the Randolph School District is no longer recognizing these holidays. Nothing could be further from the truth. These state, federal and other holidays have not been cancelled or taken away by this Board of Education as some are falsely claiming. Everyone should remember that the primary purpose of the school calendar is to inform parents when schools will be open and when schools will be closed.”