Wichita BOE unanimously votes to discontinue use of North High School mascot
WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - The Wichita Board of Education Monday voted unanimously to drop the name Redskin from Wichita North High School.
The school will be referred to as Wichita North High School and the logo will be the shield, drum and feather. The decision will be phased in starting the 2021-2022 academic school year.
The board heard from a committee that was assembled to discuss the North High School mascot. Chair of the committee Terrell Davis, Wichita Public Schools director for special projects, led the discussion.
Davis said the committee is making the following recommendations:
- Discontinue the use of the Redskin mascot/nickname due to the term being deemed offensive to Native Americans and Native American culture.
- Adhere to BOE Policy 1216 school themes, which state the building principal is responsible for determining school themes are not offensive to minority ethnic groups in the school.
- Two year phase-in plan starting 2021-2022 school year and commencing 2022-2023 school year to remove Redskin from athletic and fine arts uniforms/jerseys/facilities, school related activities and school apparel. With the exception that trophy cases and statues remain as they currently are.
- The development of 9th grade curriculum in a class that highlights the history of North High School and its Native American influences
The board voted to adopt the four recommendations from the committee.
The committee had been meeting monthly since September to discuss the mascot and name change.
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The Wichita Board of Education will discuss Wichita North High School's mascot, the Redskins, during Monday's meeting.
"Many organizations and teams - from professional teams to college teams to high schools teams - have started evaluating the impact of culturally-insensitive mascots," the district's agenda read.
The board has holding the discussion after receiving input from community members.
"The Board received many letters requesting that they look at the Wichita High School North mascot to examine the social impact and ramifications on our students and our district."
Last month four schools in the Shawnee Mission school district had their mascots changed from the Braves and Indians.