Hi all,

We just wanted to update you about the School Committee meeting that took place on October 21. The School Committee chose to create a "Short-Term Study Group for Mascot Review," which is comprised of two Regional School Committee members, ARHS Principal Sean Bevan, ARHS Athletic Director Mike Mocerino, five members of the Coalition for Equity Working Group, one ARHS faculty member, one APTO member, one Booster Club, one ARHS student-athlete, one ARHS student government or Harbinger student member. The Study Group is meant to make recommendations to the Regional School Committee about the mascot, timeline for implementation, and costs associated with implementation. The School Committee expects the Study Group's recommendations to be presented in March or April 2021.

Obviously, we take issue with many aspects of this Study Group. First, in the meeting, we called into question the necessity of creating a "study group," since many other high schools in Massachusetts have implemented a mascot change without so much discussion. Second, we questioned the lack of any enrolled Native activist representation, specifically an enrolled member of Nipmuc Nation, on the Study Group, which is clearly an egregious oversight. Lastly, the timeline of the Study Group is months too long. Despite raising these concerns, the Study Group was established as is. We have recently emailed the School Committee and Superintendent Greg Martineau reinforcing these points. We also encourage you to voice your own concerns about the Study Group to the Regional School Committee and Superintendent Martineau. If you need help with what to say please email us. Thank you for your time.

Regional School Committee email: RSC@nsboro.k12.ma.us
Superintendent Greg Martineau email: gmartineau@nsboro.k12.ma.us

In solidarity,

Students for Justice