The Gill-Montague Regional School Committee will discuss the football team’s use of the “tomahawk chop” at the Thanksgiving Day game at its next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 13, according to committee Chairman Mike Langknecht.
Langknecht said the committee will recieve a report on the events of the game, with the aim of being transparent about the issue.
The committee will also do an overall report and check-in about the mascot review process during the meeting.
The committee itself can only create policy, not implement it. So any discipline the district or school brings would come from administrators, not the school committee. There will be nothing to vote on about the game or the events during the meeting, according to Landkneckt.
However, in a statement released on Monday, Superintendent Michael Sullivan denounced the events at the game, but said the district was not disciplining those involved.
During the Thanksgiving game between Turners Falls and Greenfield, the team came out of the locker room after halftime doing the “Tomahawk Chop” and a water boy in a team jersey wore a Native American headdress during the game.
The events came at a time when the School Committee is reviewing whether to keep the high school’s mascot, currently the Indian.
Regular School Committee meetings are also open to the public. However, the public cannot participate in the meetings outside of the public comment section at the start of each meeting. School Committee meetings are held in the Turners Falls High School TV studio at 6:30 p.m.