The second Monday in October — the holiday formerly known as Columbus Day — will now be called Indigenous Peoples Day at West Hartford Public Schools. At a Feb. 21 board of education meeting, residents asked that the town consider changing the name of the holiday on the district’s calendar to honor the struggles of indigenous people during periods of colonization. Students have the day off in recognition.

After the meeting, student representatives to the board, Grace Andrews and Maddy Pliskin, created an online petition inviting residents to share their views on the subject. They posted the petition to a local Facebook group and received 660 signatures in favor of the change and over 350 comments on the idea.