TURNERS FALLS — A Change.org petition calling for the Gill-Montague Regional School District Committee to keep the Turners Falls current mascot — the Indians — was started Wednesday and had more than 300 signatures by Wednesday night.
The petition was started by Jeremy Dillensneider, who said on the petition’s web page that he plans to submit the letter to the School Committee.
The petition was posted in response to a proposal heard by the School Committee Tuesday to set in motion a review process for the Turners Falls High School Indians mascot.
Approval of the proposal would start the review process, but does not necessarily mean that there would automatically be a new mascot.
“The ‘Indian’ logo/mascot was adopted by TFHS to pay homage to the Native American Men and Women who died as a result of the King Philip’s War,” the petition reads. “If the School Committee or the administration wants to take on the task of changing the mascot, there should be a mechanism in place to help them weigh their decision and I believe this petition can do just that, show them that we don’t want another mascot.”
Lew Collins, who graduated from the high school in 1980 and now owns Turners Falls sports bar Between the Uprights, said he and other alumni are preparing to make their voices heard in the discussion.
“I’m not going to go down without a fight, and thousands of other people feel the same way,” Collins said.
He said he views the mascot as a show of respect, not as something derogatory.
“It really hurt that something like this could be taken away,” Collins said. “Everything we have, all of our traditions, could be pulled out from under us.”
The proposal was drafted in response to community concerns about the mascot. Members of the committee said they were approached last spring by some who wanted to change the mascot. Since that time, district officials have been crafting a response.
The committee typically does two to three different readings with the possibility of amendments of proposed processes and policies before a vote to adopt or deny, according to School Committee Chairman Mike Langknecht. Tuesday was the first time the committee formally saw the proposal.
The proposal was presented by School District Superintendent Michael Sullivan and was crafted by both Sullivan and Langknecht.
The proposed process would include an invitation to speak at upcoming committee meetings to those who raised the issue, as well as public hearings and an invitation to the public to help decide a new mascot, if the conversations move in that direction.
The final decision on moving forward with the review process proposal would have to be approved by a simple majority of the committee.
Sullivan said the proposal was drafted in a way that allowed ample time for the public to contribute to the discussion on the topic.
“We wanted to think about all of the stages and clearly this is intended to give lots of space and time so nobody thinks they have to speak loudly and immediately to be heard,” Sullivan said.
View the petition at: chn.ge/2cfgAtc