School board officials were criticized on Tuesday after a motion to reinstate Columbus Day on the school calendar did not pass. More than 20 residents and local Italian American activists attended the Rockaway Township Board of Education meeting and spoke in support of the motion. Board members renamed the day Indigenous Peoples' Day after a board vote last December. 

"I was upset and disappointed to hear that the Rockaway Township Board of Ed abolished the celebration of Italian American history and culture through the name of Columbus Day, without any public input or discussion," said William Schievella, president of the Italian American Police Society of New Jersey.