New Bellefonte school board rehashes district’s mascot and moniker debate. What’s next?
Board members and the public deliberated for more than two hours Tuesday evening about how the new Bellefonte Area School District board of directors should move forward with the ongoing mascot and moniker debate.
For more than 80 years, the district was known as the “Bellefonte Red Raiders” with a symbol of a Native American with a headdress, though in 2015, the school made its Native American symbol a secondary logo, replacing it with a red block letter “B.”
In April, following community debate and petitions from both sides, the board voted 8-1 to retire Native American imagery used throughout the district, after hearing from two dozen community members in support of the change. Removal must occur within one year unless an image requires costly replacement or maintenance, the motion read. Later that same month, the board voted to remove the word “red” from the district moniker but retain “raider,” beginning with the 2021-22 school year. To move toward a name and logo that does not misrepresent or stereotype indigenous people, the board also motioned to establish a committee to assist with a rebrand.
Eighteen people spoke during public comment during Tuesday’s work session, which marked the first time the newly elected board of directors discussed the topic. Last month, candidates from the Win 4 Bellefonte ticket — Andrea Royer, Jeff Steiner, Jack Bechdel II and Jon Guizar — swept the school board election.
Ten or so members of the public spoke in favor of keeping the name “Red Raiders” and the Native American imagery.
Rhonda Bailey, of Spring Township, said school boards represent the community’s voice and should vote as such.
“This past election, the Win 4 Bellefonte started mainly for this, for the imagery and saving our heritage and our tradition of Bellefonte School District ... so I think it is very clear that that is the overwhelming majority of our community. And you were elected to represent the community and the students who also voted overwhelmingly to keep the Red Raiders and the imagery,” Bailey said.
Cecilia Stanton, a junior at BASD and a member of the rebranding committee, urged the board to follow through with the previous board’s decision, as it would be a “gross misuse” of time and resources to do otherwise.
“We need to follow through with decisions that have been previously made. There’s already been a large amount of work done by the rebranding committee, including myself, to come up with many new ideas and options for new imagery and logos for the district that are historical and non-offensive,” Stanton said.
Steiner said that the previous board was forced into making changes to the district’s imagery and name, and moved too fast. He said the board had been involved in these conversations and had been making small changes for years.
“George Floyd happened, a week later we got hit with a petition to change our name. The problem is it was forced. And that’s why we’re sitting here today. Instead of letting the natural evolution occur and we jumped like five steps versus the little steps that had been made,” Steiner said.
Board member Kimberly Weaver said the board received more than 100 emails in two days from the community asking to keep the logo and Red Raiders name.
“We’ve also seen a lot of people who are willing to compromise with the ‘block B’ and reinstate the Red Raider name. So I guess to me, I don’t understand why we aren’t listening to the community,” Weaver said.
Earlier this year, Steiner, Guizar and Weaver were the dissenting votes in the 6-3 decision to remove the word “red” from the moniker.
New board member Andrea Royer agreed with Weaver that the former board could have compromised by keeping the word “red” without pairing it with Native American imagery.
Guizar said the board should pause, start the process again and be more transparent, inclusive and honest about what they can do moving forward. He also said that funds need to be appropriated in order to carry out any decisions. Rebranding efforts in the high school gym alone could cost nearly $100,000, the district’s director of fiscal affairs said this fall.
Board member Julie Fitzgerald said she heard the election results and appreciated everyone who has been involved in the process. But, she said, while it might be a tough decision to go against what the majority wants, it might be for the better.
Guizar suggested they keep the rebranding committee and work to see if there was any Native American imagery of any kind that would be appropriate. He said it can’t just be a decision to change and it’s done; it’s an ongoing educational process for the community. Otherwise, the next board will go through the same thing.
“We have two years ahead of us where we need to act responsibly in a measured fashion, measured and transparent, to move this issue along far enough that we’re not having huge swings in boards,” Guizar said.
Despite calls for more community involvement and work sessions, nothing was scheduled or determined on Tuesday.
“Leadership’s got to talk. We’ve got to think it out,” Steiner said.
