Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 gave consensus to have the superintendent bring an examination and recommendation in reference to the Manhattan High School mascot.
Board President Karla Hagemeister brought up the discussion during Wednesday’s meeting. While she says this isn’t a priority item at the moment, the board’s mission statement of equity is the reason it was brought up.
“It was not lost on me that there’s a portion of our student population and our community that feels excluded or exempted from that,” says Hagemeister. “I don’t ask this lightly.”
Hagemeister says the district is at a point where this type of situation needs to be looked at again. Board Member Darell Edie, who has been through this process before, was against revisiting this topic. One of his main reasons of opposition was how recent the last discussion on this topic was.
“We had all sorts of evaluations and discussions. This just happened. Just because you weren’t there and a couple of you weren’t there, there’s a lot of documentation you can read,” Edie says. “We do not need to be going through this whole thing, again, already.”
Edie says the process took up much of the board’s time and right now they do not have a lot. Board Member Curt Herrman, who was also present for these discussions, shared the same sentiment as Edie. He says they have already spent two years on this and feels like the solution they came up with was a good compromise.
“We had the students pick a mascot, we made the steps towards creating a curriculum towards Native American education, and we named the commons over there,” says Herrman. ” I think we’ve taken the steps that we said we were, that we would in the very beginning.”
Board Member Jurdene Coleman responded saying she expected Edie and Herrman to respond that way. She believes the measures taken before was a step in the right direction, but just a step in the process as a whole.
“As a person, who I would personally say is in a different place in terms of culture competency, knowledge on racial equity, and inclusivity, I feel that it was just a step and there is more work to do,” says Coleman. “I think that as this training that we are discussing has gone through, I would hope you would be able to see that is the end result that needs to be achieved.”
Coleman says this is based on knowing what racial equity is and what systemic racism means.
Board Member Kristin Brighton has been contacted by several members of the community to see where she stood on this topic, since she is new to the board. Brighton says she does not feel the district has met all the goals they agreed to over two years ago. While they have taken the steps, Brighton believes they have not done a great job in educating the students on indigenous people in the country.
“I feel like we are in a position where when you like at all the changes in society down to the Washington Redskins. Just like week, NPR said the second most derogatory term is Indians,” says Brighton.
Brighton says this topic is something that the district cannot wait another 10 years to bring back up. She referenced promoting the school district across the country and the shock they will receive from other people. While, Herrman responded saying the Indian is a term and not a mascot, Brighton says the rest of the world interprets it as a mascot.
Board Member Brandy Santos says they have to listen to both sides of this topic.
“Not saying one is right and one is wrong, I think those need to be respected on both sides. I don’t see an issue with looking at it, but at this point we don’t even have the steps done for what we were going to do with the curriculum,” says Santos.
Santos says she respects the outcome that was already addressed, especially since it was decided recently. She adds that they cannot just change the outcome because they did not agree with it. She joined Herrman and Edie in not supporting it.
Board Member Katrina Lewison responded to Santos saying the school district has continued to evolve in the way they teach. Even in the past two and a half years, the board and times have changed.
“I do not feel satisfied with how far we have come. When it comes to discussion on what’s right, there’s never a right time to do the right thing,” says Lewison.
Brighton brought up that this is the last time the high school will be able to expand. Due to this, she suggested now is the best time to make this kind of change. Hagemeister closed out the topic saying she understands this is a hard topic to discuss.
“I struggled with whether or not to bring it tonight. I struggled with how to bring it. No matter when it would be, for some folks it would be too soon and for others it would be not soon enough,” says Hagemeister. “I don’t know if there is any great answer that makes everyone happy here. I have to do what’s right here.”
Hagemeister says the longer she looks at their strategic plan and what the board stands by, the more they need to revisit this topic.
Superintendent Dr. Marvin Wade says he will return with a recommendation whenever the board requests it. The final vote was 4-3.
