School Board denies student request to submit mascot designs
School Board denies student request
By Jim Sabataso Staff Writer 18 hrs ago 1
A Rutland High School student asking to present new mascot designs to the school board is being told he’ll have to wait.
According to emails obtained by the Herald, RHS Senior Class President Giovanni Falco emailed City School Commissioners on April 26 requesting a spot on the agenda of the board’s May 11 meeting. Falco expressed his intention to present potential designs for the newly adopted “Ravens” mascot and team name created by artist and RHS alum Jon Marro, who would also be joining the presentation.
Board Chairman Hurley Cavacas denied Falco’s request in a follow-up email April 27, stating, “We will be moving forward as we should have with a committee and a thorough review of the process and name. I have set up the ad hoc committee to look into this. The board will hear a report from the committee once they have come up with a recommendation. I will not support any decision until this review is done. The board needs to focus on issues at hand.”
Falco also started an online petition supporting Marro’s designs.
“Together we are asking that the RCPS School Board take the next step in completing the transition to the new Rutland Mascot,” the petition reads.
As of Monday afternoon, it had received more than 460 signatures from current students, district staff, city residents and alumni.
Falco stated he wrote the email to the board and created the petition on his own, although Marro did provide information about his work.
He said Friday his intention was simply to present the work Marro had done.
A graduate of the class of 1996, Marro has collaborated with a number of international brands, professional musicians and TV programs, including Whole Foods, Madonna, Dave Matthews Band, MTV and “Good Morning America.”
“I wasn’t expecting a decision to be made regarding the new mascot design,” said Falco. “I just believe that transparency and dialogue are key for this kind of discussion.”
He added that, until the board takes steps to reinstate the Raider name and arrowhead, he believes the district should “keep moving forward until we have new direction.”
Falco said school officials have also stymied his efforts to show off Marro’s designs.
According to Falco, the administration would not allow him to set up a table showcasing Marro’s work at RHS over concerns any work on a new mascot needed to wait until the board provided further guidance.
“What does that show students, what does that show the community — that we’re waiting for a new decision after one’s already been made?” he said asked.
RHS Principal Greg Schillinger defended the move, explaining that it’s “premature” to start talking about designs.
“We’re not at the point of selecting a specific vendor to generate artwork,” he said. “I think when we get to that point, there needs to be an open and transparent process whereby the full student body has the opportunity to look at all of the options, not just one in particular.”
Schillinger said Falco’s current efforts are his own and are not endorsed by the school or the Mascot Advisory Committee, which selected the “Ravens” as the new mascot earlier this year.
“He expressed an interest in doing that personally,” Schillinger said.
Speaking Monday, Cavacas said next week’s meeting already has a “very packed agenda,” and all future mascot discussion would be referred to a new ad hoc committee, which he will be establishing.
He said Falco is welcome to make his presentation to that committee.
Falco said he would be happy to do so, stating, “I would appreciate any opportunity I have.”
Speaking more broadly on the issue, Cavacas said the board would not be holding a vote this month in order to give the new committee — composed of four commissioners representing both sides — time to gather information and present it to the board.
Moreover, he said he is still investigating whether or not the board vote last October to change the name and logo were done “properly and transparently, according to Robert’s Rules (of Order) and to our policies and procedures and City Charter.”
Last October, the School Board voted 6-4 to retire the “Raider” name and arrowhead logo, deeming it offensive and hurtful to Indigenous Americans. In February, the board approved “Ravens” to replace it.
However, following the election of a slate of pro-Raider School Board candidates in March, the previous name and logo are back on the table.
At last month’s meeting, freshman Commissioner Stephanie Stoodley made a motion to reinstate the Raider name and arrowhead. The motion was ultimately tabled by Cavacas.
Despite the intense and often divisive debate occurring among adults in the community, Falco said students are less heated.
“I think that from the beginning this process, the adults took it from zero to 100 in a very short amount of time,” he said.
He also noted the spread of misinformation about what students actually think.
While he said he believes a majority of students recognize that retiring the Raider name and arrowhead is necessary, he would like to see more conversations with students, as well as an official survey.
“The truth is, we don’t have that data. We don’t know how many students actually want or don’t want it,” he said. “This should be more of a current student issue than it should be a former student or community member issue. And I think that we need more input from the students in the building.”
Commissioner Ann Dages said she supported Falco’s request and was eager to see his presentation.
In an email to Cavacas, Falco and administrators, she stated her view that the board should “help foster students’ civil discourse through education and practice.”
“This is what you learn in school; you learn how to be an important member of society, and he’s doing just that,” Dages said Friday.
jim.sabataso
@rutlandherald.com
jim.sabataso@rutlandherald.com