By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – A draft policy on “mascots and logos” got its initial review yesterday by the School Committee’s Policy and Communications Subcommittee.
The subcommittee was not prepared to make a recommendation to the full School Committee and after discussing the draft policy and making some edits, the subcommittee decided to further discuss it at its next meeting before issuing a recommendation.
The Policy and Communications Subcommittee also revisited the “Resolution For The Honoring of Native American Culture in the Wakefield Public Schools.” The Resolution accompanied the School Committee decision to eliminate the Warrior logo last spring.
At its July 31 “retreat,” School Committee Member Ami Wall expressed dissatisfaction with parts of the resolution. The April 13, 2021 Resolution was approved by the previous School Committee before Wall and three other new members were elected in the April 27 Town Election.
Wall had to attend last night’s Policy and Communications Subcommittee meeting as a member of the public to present her suggested edits. The subcommittee was careful to avoid any deliberations as the three subcommittee members plus Wall would constitute a quorum of the School Committee.
Wall presented her suggested changes and subcommittee member Stephen Ingalls recorded them. The subcommittee plans to discuss the suggested edits at its next meeting.
She suggested changing “The Wakefield Public Schools will immediately retire the current high school logo” to “will immediately begin the process to retire the current high school logo.”
Wall also suggested removing entirely the following: “The Wakefield School Committee apologizes on behalf of the Wakefield Public Schools to its Native American students and to Indigenous peoples across Massachusetts and beyond for any harm that its use of Native American imagery may have caused.” Wall had stated previously that she did not believe that the apology was warranted or belonged in a policy document.
Where the Resolution refers to prohibiting “distribution of imagery that includes references to Native Americans,” Wall suggested changing it to refer to “this image” (meaning specifically the recently retired logo.)
The Resolution states that “The Wakefield Public Schools is authorized to retain the title “Warriors” for use in its athletic teams, student activities and organizations and related school communications provided it is decoupled from any association with Native Americans, their culture or history.”
Wall suggested that it be changed to “provided it is decoupled from the current logo.”
She also asked that a deadline in the Resolution for the creation of a new logo be changed from Dec. 31, 2021 to “to be determined.”
A section of the Resolution calls for trophies, championship banners and other recognitions of student achievement that include the logo to remain on display in the high school. Wall wants wording inserted to guarantee that those items will also be displayed in any future new high school building.
She also recommended eliminating the following section: “The School Committee, through the Superintendent, High School Principal, and Athletic Director, support the establishment of a working group, consisting of representatives of every booster group and athletic team to review the new School Committee Policy and the use of the Warrior Logo in their work and in the fund-raising efforts.”
Wall suggested a number of other editorial changes to remove or change language that she felt was superfluous or were reactions to people’s feelings at the time that the Resolution was being drafted.
The Policy and Communications Subcommittee said that it would discuss the Resolution with Wall’s suggested edits at its next meeting.
The subcommittee then went on to discuss the new draft policy on the “Mascot and Logo.” The draft policy, created by subcommittee member Stephen Ingalls, states that, “Mascots, logos and/or nicknames shall be respectful of diverse cultural identities/values and reflect a positive school image. Mascots, logos, team name and/or nicknames will not be derogatory or offensive to persons of any race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry or age, or persons with a disability. Neither should the mascot, logo, team name and/or nickname depict violence or abuse.”
The draft policy outlines a process for the selection of a logo or mascot for a school, which includes the creation of a committee. The draft policy lays out the composition of such a committee to include the school principal, two or three staff members, five students (four high school students and one middle school student), two parents and two Community Members.
This committee will be responsible for completing a comprehensive review of any proposed mascot, logo, team name or nickname, including review of current mascot, logo, team name or nickname. This review may include, but is not limited to, any combination of the following: student forums, community forums, surveys/questionnaires and meetings with any local organization which may be impacted by the decision.
The draft policy calls for the the committee to develop a list of up to three potential mascot(s), logo(s), team name(s) or nickname(s).
All proposed school mascot, logo, team name or nickname selections and/or changes will be presented to the Superintendent for review within three months of forming the committee. The Superintendent will make a recommendation to the School Committee for final review and approval.
Subcommittee member Amy Leeman was concerned that some of the timelines laid out in the draft policy might be too restrictive.
Subcommittee chair Kevin Piskadlo suggested that some of the language needed to be broader in order to address logo changes in general, not just the current situation.
There was also some discussion of whether the selection of an elementary school logo needed to go through such an elaborate process.
A separate agenda item last night called for a discussion of contracting with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) to review Wakefield Public Schools’ policies and host them on its web site.
Superintendent Doug Lyons argued in favor of contracting with MASC.
Leeman questioned whether contracting with MASC would suggest an endorsement of other business or lobbying that MASC does.
Lyons suggested having Dorothy Presser of MASC come to a future subcommittee meeting to address any concerns.
