Halloween: Love it or hate it, there’s no in-between. At least, that’s what a number of public schools across the country have discovered this year.

A Michigan elementary school decided this fall that it wouldn’t celebrate Halloween, tossing its annual celebrations, costumes, classroom parties — even its Halloween parade. Galewood Early Elementary School’s principal, Steve Chartier, cited a need to “protect educational time” on Oct. 31 in an email to parents announcing the changes. Learn first, celebrate later, Chartier said.