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08/14/2020 12:00 AMThe Region 4 (R4) Board of Education (BOE) voted on Aug. 10 to retire the mascot and other Native American imagery used to represent any program at Valley Regional High School (VRHS).
“I move that the board direct the superintendent to retire all use of Native American imagery including the head, the feathers, and the sphere. Understanding that there are associated costs, the pace of the removal of all imagery will be determined by the superintendent,” said R4 BOE member Jennifer Clark.
The motion was seconded by R4 BOE Treasurer DG Fitton, with a vote of seven to one in favor of it. One R4 BOE member was not present.
The Aug. 10 meeting was the second meeting by the R4 BOE to hear from members of the community on the issue. The first meeting was on Aug. 4.
At both meetings, held by Google Meet, several members of the public attended, with numerous callers voicing their objections to continued use of the mascot and Native American imagery.
R4 BOE Chair Kate Sandmann started the meeting on Aug. 10, saying that social justice is at “the forefront right now for many.”
“We’re considering a context larger than our community at VRHS and it’s an important conversation and that the focus is really intent versus impact,” she said.
Sandmann indicated that high schools, colleges, and professional sports teams have moved away from using Native American mascots.
“We think it’s important to address this issue and be thoughtful about how to proceed,” she said.
Sandmann provided a short timeline on how the R4 BOE became involved, mentioning a change.org petition to change the mascot that was presented to the board and Superintendent of Schools Brian White in January.
After receipt of the petition, “the board requested more information, an update about Valley Regional High School and the image that it was using, sort of where things were,” she said.
In March, VRHS Principal Mike Barile presented the R4 BOE with a status report by the Mascot Committee, which is composed of members of the administration, teachers, and students. This presentation is available at reg4.k12.ct.us.
“It was evident from the presentation that there had been an effort made to put a new mascot in place, the warriors mascot, so this evening the R4 BOE is meeting and likely voting on how to proceed in a way that best supports our schools and communities,” said Sandmann.
After Sandmann’s introduction, numerous members of the public, including current and former students, parents, and other members of the Chester, Deep River and Essex communities, commented.
One example includes RJ Herrick, a lifelong resident of Deep River and alumnus of VRHS. He is also a parent, with children currently enrolled at the high school.
“This mascot has been known to be an issue since I was in school,” said Herrick. “I graduated in ‘98 and our T-shirt that we got as a grad had a little Indian decoration making smoke signals. That sort of racial characterization, it hasn’t been fine for decades. I’m really glad that we’re having this conversation now. It’s kind of embarrassing to have my Valley Regional Warrior mascot on anything these days.”
Herrick continued, saying that he would like to have a logo from the school that he could be proud of sharing.
“We do have these vestiges of old ways of thinking when people were less informed that I really think needs to be moved on. So, I look forward for us joining the rest of the country as we recognize these mascots are just not acceptable,” he added.
After public comment, R4 BOE members were offered the opportunity to comment.
R4 BOE member and Secretary Rick Daniels, who cast the lone dissenting vote on the motion, discussed his disagreement with the process.
“I continue to be disturbed by what has been a process in which a minority has steered consideration of this issue without regard for a majority, which was more than five times the size of the original petitioning group,” he said.
Daniels was referring to a change.org petition, “Get the Warrior Head Back on Valley Football Helmets” that had a greater number of online signatures when compared with the change.org petition calling to change “Valley Regional High School’s Racist Mascot.” Neither survey was limited to members of the tri-town community.
Daniels discussed how he believed “the process was led in one direction. It was neither open nor transparent,” he said.
R4 BOE member Lori Ann Clymas provided an immediate response, saying that she respected Daniels’s opinion, but disagreed with his comments. She provided a detailed history and timeline of the board’s involvement with the issue of using the mascot and associated Native American imagery.
Other R4 BOE members expressed disagreement with Daniels’ comments on the process, saying that besides the online petition regarding VRHS football helmets, members of the board had not heard from these individuals.
Other members of the board were given the opportunity to comment on the issue, with a majority speaking in favor of removing any reference to Native Americans.
As an example, R4 BOE Vice-Chair Jane Cavanaugh said, “I agree with everything that has been said in terms of basically retiring this mascot. I think it’s just the right thing to do. I think Lori Ann presented very accurately the information and I agree with both DG and John that we have never heard from the group that basically supports this mascot although it’s been alluded [to]. I would like to go forward and tonight see this motion pass.”
After additional comments, the vote was taken. Several members of the public expressed appreciation for removing the mascot and associated Native American imagery at VRHS.
Claire Walsh of Deep River said, “I would first like to thank the board members for opening up this process to the public and allowing us to voice our opinions about this really important issue and I would like to thank the board members for their insight about the timeliness of this issue because it is long overdue and I agree with the speakers who so eloquently talked about the native people who have their traditions and who object to [having] those traditions and part of their heritage being stolen by other people without their permission.
“I think we’re doing the right thing and I applaud the board members for their courage in stepping up to do this,” she added.
In an email to members of the R4 educational community on Aug. 11, Sandmann said that White will develop a timeline and action plan for carrying out the R4 BOE’s decision and that he had been asked to report back to the R4 BOE with next steps.
She also indicated that Barile would be communicating with the VRHS community with further details as a follow-up to the R4 BOE’s decision.