Want to voice your opinion on Bellefonte’s ‘Red Raider’? A special meeting will be held
A decadeslong debate is inching forward as Bellefonte Area School District prepares to accept feedback on retiring the “Red Raider,” but it’s unclear if that will result in changing the logo, name or both — or when a final decision will be made.
The school board has scheduled a special voting meeting for Tuesday to hear public comment and vote on changing the current Native American logo used throughout the district. The virtual meeting comes almost a year after a renewed push for change, calls to keep the “Red Raider” and a series of internal actions to become a more inclusive and culturally appropriate district.
During a March work session, the board discussed how to consider potential changes to the “Red Raider” logo and name, with some board members requesting that they be addressed and voted on separately. No formal action was taken during that meeting, but Jon Guizar, board president and chair, said his position provides some discretion on how to move forward.
“I would like to see the issue move forward, but I feel like there’s just a lot of pressure from one side to have everything just the way they want it instead of just making progress forward,” he said during a meeting Tuesday. “I think the district has made a tremendous amount of progress on this issue.”
After a group of BASD alumni began circulating an online petition in support of replacing the mascot and a counter petition to keep the logo quickly sprung up, the district began to consider options to become more culturally appropriate.
Last fall, the board of directors heard presentations on the mascot’s history and moved to evaluate diversity, inclusion and equity in the district through committee work. Since then, the district has scheduled an audit to examine equity in its curriculum, drafted a mandatory course on local history and eliminated native music that was played each morning. In a February work session, Superintendent Tammie Burnaford said there has been an ongoing “conscientious effort” to be educational and inclusive.
Citing a case brought forward by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission against the Neshaminy School District and its Native American logo, Guizar said the “logical next step” was to discuss the “Red Raider” image.
“I think the community is a lot more divided than people really think, to be honest with you,” Guizar told the board. “I’ve asked a lot of people; I’ve talked to a lot of people, and ... there’s a lot of consensus on voting to have the image retired — a lot of it. There’s not a lot consensus on changing the name, of if you do change the name, as to what it would be.”
After almost half an hour spent discussing the special meeting, board members again suggested a series of options for regulating public comment, board discussion and voting. Board member Donna Smith suggested accepting holding public comment on both the logo and name in one meeting and conducting two votes separately.
Board members Julie Fitzgerald, Rodney Musser, Mark Badger and Kristen Bruckner expressed a desire to wrap up the discussion and public input on the “Red Raider” by the end of the month, but Guizar refused to commit to a definitive timeline.
Instead, he said he would commit to reviewing options for moving forward after next week’s meeting.
“Why does this continue to tread on? This is a year now,” Bruckner said.
“And look at all the things we’ve accomplished in that year,” Guizar replied.
Eventually, the board should solidify plans and select dates to vote on each issue, Musser said. No formal action was taken on the idea, but Musser proposed the board include a future date on the special meeting agenda to discuss and vote on the name.
“I’ll support that,” board member Jeff Steiner said. “Get it over with.”
Those interested in speaking at Tuesday’s meeting must be a resident of the district and register online. All residents who sign up to speak will be called on for comments, which will be limited to three minutes. The meeting is scheduled to run from 6-11 p.m., but if additional time is needed, the board will adjourn and continue the next evening with the existing registrants and meeting link.
This story was originally published April 10, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
