Published in the February 12, 2021 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The School Committee has settled on a “process” to determine the future of the Wakefield Warrior logo, but a slim majority of the school board does not want that process to include a town-wide ballot question, even if that ballot question is non-binding.
Tuesday’s School Committee meeting featured a long discussion of the Warrior logo, which consists of an image of a Native American in a headdress. The discussion began during the public participation portion near the beginning of the meeting, with about 10 residents, including several students, weighing in from both sides of the debate.
The issue has been simmering for some time, but came to a boiling point last October, when the Youth Council voted to recommend that the School Committee eliminate the logo.
At Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, Colleen Guida presented the Policy and Communications Subcommittee’s recommendation for a process to move the logo issue toward a resolution.
The recommendation proposed that a public forum be held via Zoom on WCAT in a hybrid studio format on Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m. The forum would include a presentation on the use of the Warrior name and the logo along with its history, although it was not clear who would be presenting the history.
A survey will be sent to the community to collect data regarding public perceptions about the Warrior Name and the current logo.
Members of the community would be able to participate in a public comment period during the Feb. 25 forum to share different perspectives about the use of the Warrior name and the current logo.
According to the proposed process, on Tuesday, March 9, the School Committee Policy and Communications Subcommittee will summarize the information and data collected and presented at the public forum. The School Committee would then review options moving forward that may include: modifying the Warrior name and the logo; keeping the Warrior name and current logo; keeping the Warrior name and creating options for a new logo; or convening a group to create options for a new logo.
School Committee chair Aimee Purcell questioned exactly how a survey of the whole community would be conducted.
Committee member Greg Liakos said that he envisioned reaching out through the School Department’s email list and social media.
School Committee member Mike Boudreau said that he had contacted Town Counsel Thomas Mullen regarding options such as having a Town Meeting vote or placing a ballot question in the April 27 Town Election.
Boudreau reported that, according to Mullen, a Town Meeting vote would be binding but a ballot question would not. Boudreau also noted that a Town Meeting vote would limit the public’s ability to participate due to space constraints as well as COVID restrictions.
Guida was skeptical of those approaches, noting that the School Committee was elected to make such decisions.
Liakos maintained that it was a school logo, not a town logo. He further claimed that historically the logo has been changed by the administration without involving the School Committee. The proposed process, he insisted, would already expand the public process well beyond what has been done in the past.
But Purcell said that a non-binding ballot question would be the best way to allow everyone in town to be heard. Some seniors don’t have access to to to the technology to weigh in online or at a forum conducted over Zoom, she noted. She suggested a combination of a ballot question and a student survey.
“It is a community issue,” she said, adding that that it was important to ensure that the process was equitable and fair. She also pointed out that there will be a financial cost to removing the logo, and voters should have a chance to weigh in.
Boudreau agreed, saying that limiting the public’s ability to provide feedback would be “a bad precedent.”
School Committee member Thomas Markham said that he was concerned about the “monumental distraction” that the logo had become. He maintained that the School Committee was elected to make decisions. He said he did not support “kicking the can to the larger community.”
But School Committee member Darci Burns agreed with Boudreau’s idea to let the public weigh in via a ballot question.
“I like to make decisions on as much information as possible,” she said.
Purcell also agreed, saying that the School Committee should not exclude the public if they want to be heard. A public forum during a pandemic, she added, was not a viable option.
After some further discussion, Boudreau made a motion to amend the Policy Subcommittee’s motion regarding the process by including a non-binding question on the April 27 Town Election ballot.
Both Markham and Liakos said that they did not support the amendment to include a ballot question.
School Committee member Suzy Veilleux said that the School Committee should have the hard conversations and make a decision, not put the matter off.
Boudreau’s amendment failed by a vote of 4-3. Boudreau, Burns and Purcell voted in favor of the amendment, while Liakos, Markham, Guida and Veilleux were opposed to a ballot question.
The subsequent vote on the Policy and Communications Subcommittee’s original motion regarding the process was then approved by 6-1 vote, with Purcell opposed.
Liakos then proposed that the Policy and Communications subcommittee craft a panel of Native Americans to discuss the logo issue. Boudreau wanted Wakefield resident Richard Bayrd, a Native American who has voiced strong support for the Warrior name and logo, to be on the panel.
The School Committee voted to authorize the Policy and Communications Subcommittee to convene such a panel discussion.
