Parents Tuesday reacted to news that their children would not be celebrating Halloween in school this year.
MAPLEWOOD -- The families of students affected by a New Jersey elementary school's decision to cut in-school Halloween celebrations were split Tuesday afternoon on their feelings about the new school policy.
"I don't have a problem with them cancelling it, because now my child is not excluded from whatever is going on," Tricia James said outside Seth Boyden Elementary School in Maplewood Tuesday afternoon. Her family is Muslim, and does not believe in celebrating Halloween, she said.
"I think, given the number of students who sit out, (this is a good decision). Why lose a day of instruction?"
Poll: Should Halloween activities be eliminated from public schools?
Seth Boyden's principal and PTA co-presidents brought attention to this year's new policy, which says that the school will not be having any Halloween celebrations, in a letter home to parents on Oct. 12. The school cited the diversity of its students as a reason behind the decision.
According to the letter, about 20 percent of the school's approximately 530 students chose not to participate in last year's festivities, either by staying home, or by participating in an alternative activity while the Halloween celebration was going on.
Wendy Suppa said her daughter, a Jehovah's Witness, stayed home on Halloween last year. Suppa's first grader sits out of all celebrations that the school has, so her daughter would not have participated with or without the new policy, she said.
"Whether the school did anything or not, we have our own stand," she said.
A 'Happy Fall' sign greeted kids at the Seth Boyden Elementary School in Maplewood Tuesday. (Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)South Orange-Maplewood School District spokeswoman Suzanne Turner declined to say Tuesday which specific groups of students have opted out of the celebrations in the past, saying that mentioning them would negate the school's objective of making all of its students feel included.
"The last thing we want to do is single out the groups who have not participated," she said.
SHOULD SCHOOLS HAVE HALLOWEEN CELEBRATIONS?
Halloween dates back some 2,000 years, with most historians tracing its origins to the ancient Celts in what is now Ireland. The day, which marked the end of the harvest and the year, was believed to be a time when ghosts of the dead came to earth. During a large bonfire on Halloween, the Celts wore costumes and made animal sacrifices to help protect them during the coming winter.
Catholic missionaries who encountered the Celts attempted to transform the day into a celebration based in Christianity, naming Nov. 1 "All Saint's Day," or "All Hallows," meaning all holy. The Celtic traditions changed, but their essence persisted, with the day before All Saint's Day becoming known as "All Hallow's Eve."
The celebration went through several transformations over time, with the current American holiday being the result of several different traditions melding together. Religious and cultural groups, including conservative Christians and Jews, and some Muslims and Hindus, have denounced the celebration of Halloween as embracing evil over good.
But Gwen Trezza, an administrative assistant at St. Philomena's, a Catholic school in nearby Livingston that has students of various faiths, said its trunk-or-treat, parade and costumes were a fun break from the usual uniforms and instruction.
"We are multicultural," Trezza said.
"Some students participate (in our parade), and some choose not to."
READ: School nixes Halloween celebration, cites diversity
Some Maplewood parents Tuesday said they felt stopping a celebration that 80 percent of the student body participated in was unfair.
"I think it's silly," Rachel Massoni said of the decision. "It seems a little extreme to me."
Cindy Carothers said she wished that her daughter would be able to dress up at school.
"It's fun and it's cute," she said. "I don't really get it...if some people don't want to participate, they could just not participate."
DIVERSITY
The Maplewood school is not the first to tackle the issue. A school district in Milford, Conn. made headlines earlier this month for first cancelling its Halloween parade to be more inclusive, and then reinstating it when parents reportedly protested the decision.
Seth Boyden had a similar experience last year, when it nixed Halloween festivities, then reinstated them, saying the cancellation did not give parents ample notice of the change. This year, the school had no plans for a celebration, and sent out the notice merely as a reminder, officials said.
Though it does not track religious affiliations, the New Jersey School Report Card says that the school is made up of approximately 56.5 percent black students, 30.9 percent white students, 7.2 percent Hispanic students, and 5.4 percent Asian, mixed, and other race students.
In an editorial on The Village Green blog, PTA Co-President Amelia Riekenberg said diversity was not at the heart of the decision to do away with Halloween, unity was.
"Yes, we are a diverse community. Most of us celebrate that diversity and love Seth Boyden because of it, not in spite of it," she wrote.
"But diversity did not lead to the decision not to have a Halloween parade in school. Unity led to this decision - everyone counts, or nobody counts."
School officials said Tuesday that celebrating Halloween is not the district's responsibility, educating is. And, it wants its entire student body to feel comfortable when it does that.
"Ultimately, schools are charged with educating children. That is our primary mission," Turner said Tuesday.
"The 80 (percent) of students who participate in Halloween have other opportunities to do so outside of school...the 20 (percent) of students who do not participate in Halloween miss a day of their education and have no other opportunity to make it up."
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
