Peru community members deliver passioned plea

PERU | Community members delivered a passioned response to school superintendent, Dr. Thomas Palmer, on July 22 — do not change our mascot. The second of two town hall meetings saw community members get their chance to speak out on the Peru Central School board of education's July 14 decision to retire the use of the Indians mascot by a 7-0 vote, with all stating their dismay over the decision. "They got rid of the Redskins and a week later we are no longer the Indians," said Chad Robinson. "My son (Arik, a state champion wrestler when at the school) has an Indian tattooed on his body, that's how deep his pride is. And you guys just wash it away like it does not mean anything to us." One lady in attendance said her elementary-aged son, who has played youth football and was getting ready to move in the Peru program, "said to me the other night he does not want to go to school here anymore because of this." "Should have had a say" The biggest issue community members brought up during the hour-long meeting was that the school board made the decision without any chance for public input. "I feel I should have had a say in this but I don't," said Robinson. "We are a family and we are tight-knit, but we are not tight-knit now because you guys just made decisions without us. It's very upsetting." "I was very disappointed because we had no input into this," said Gary Edwards, who serves as varsity wrestling co-coach. "Anyone that has ever mentioned the name to me, I have always said I am proud to be a Peru Indian. Having said all that, I could see this coming down the road for a number of years." "We need more transparency and input from the citizens of our community and not have things shoved down our throats," said one member of the audience. "This community is going the way of the rest of the country, right to hell in a handbasket." "There are too many new chapters starting around here," said another "It is ridiculous. The alumni are very proud of this school and proud of what they accomplished. We feel as if we are not important enough to consult." "Our community is way better than this, and that is what sticks in some people's craw," surmised another. Several in attendance asked why the board members were not at the meeting, to which Palmer responded he had asked them not to come so more community members could attend the meeting, which was limited to 50 in attendance due to Clinton County public health guidelines. Chance to be heard again Palmer added he would take the concerns from the meeting back to the board of education, adding people have the chance to speak at the next regular board meeting Aug. 18. "If we need to get a bigger venue where we can socially distance so people can attend in person, I will ask the board to look into that," said Palmer. "My input (to the board) will be we go back to the community and have an honest discussion before we move any further." Palmer said he had advised the board of education to have a public forum or receive some kind of input before making the decision on July 14. "I had advised the board to maybe take some time and have a community meeting on this, but they felt they wanted to take action at the time," he said. "I said several times to them we should have community meetings first before we make any decisions. I can recommend things to them but in the end, it is not my decision." Next steps While Palmer said he would take the comments from the community back to the school board, he outlined the next steps, as they currently stand, in the process, which will be to form a stakeholder committee to look into the renaming of the school's mascot, which would be made up of community members, faculty, staff, and students. "It is that community stakeholder group that will have the opportunity to decide which direction we move in," he said. Palmer proposed dates of Aug. 4, 11, and 25 for the meetings.

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Peru community members deliver passioned plea

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