During a meeting Jan. 25, the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen amended a motion to include a town vote on whether residents were in favor of continuing the use of the term and image “Redskin” for the high school.
The March 1 vote will piggyback on an initial special election article for residents to approve a lease on Huntoon Hill for a State of Maine communications tower.
The amended motion was an official response to pleas from Wiscasset residents for the board to take a formal stance on the issue after the RSU 12 school board voted to “immediately” and “permanently” remove the “Redskin” mascot/logo during a Jan.13 meeting.
“The board is charged with representing the will of the people and I look for you to do so,” said Wiscasset resident Chet Grover. “The RSU acted inappropriately, this was ripped away from us,” he said.
Due to the interest surrounding the issue, the town office was packed with Wiscasset students, alumni, and at least two RSU 12 School Board Members. Board chairman David Nichols, a Wiscasset alumnus, actively solicited opinion from the audience and pledged his support toward efforts to put the issue back to the community.
“You’re preaching to the choir but I’m not sure what recourse you have. See an attorney,” said Nichols.
In response to an overriding theme of frustration with school consolidation from residents, Selectman Ed Polewarczyk delivered a long, passionate speech, which included references to George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and the cultural critic Malcolm Gladwell.
“Have we witnessed a Wiscasset Tea Party? Has this mascot issue brought us to a tipping point with the RSU? I think so,” Polewarczyk said.
By putting the issue to a town-wide vote, residents and selectmen are hoping to achieve a measure of solidarity within the community and arm themselves with a documented stance.
A previous Nov. 2 survey conducted by Dresden resident Chris Teel showed overwhelming support for the “Redskin” moniker, evidence he said was ignored by the RSU board when they voted to remove the image before a committee could present its findings.
RSU 12 Board Member Eugene Stover, who has publicly opposed changing the mascot and pledged support for the continued input from a community committee, told the selectmen the issue would be addressed at the next school board meeting in February.
Fellow school board member Kim Anderson, who supports the change, cited a climate of hostility and potential violence for her decision.
“When you hear things like, ‘people should be shot’ for changing the mascot, it becomes a different reality,” Anderson said.
Wiscasset resident Candace Powell said she was “aghast” at what she had read in the newspapers and urged people to look at the “bigger picture” as the “vitriol” present was not a good reflection on the community at large.
The issue of school consolidation was brought up repeatedly, with many openly wondering how Wiscasset could potentially pull out of the RSU contract residents had approved two years ago.
“We are legally obligated to pay the bill to RSU. They own us,” said Selectman Pamela Dunning.
Teel urged the board to explore every “conceivable” option in breaking the contract and said he was “appalled” at the actions of “16 folks trumping 500 students.”
Teel’s daughter Paige, a WHS senior and member of the community mascot committee, told the board that the experience has made her a better person but added it was a “slap in the face” to have RSU officials strip the committee of its charge.
“How are we supposed to learn from this? It seems they back us [the students] when it’s convenient for them,” she said.
The timing of the RSU decision and subsequent lack of a current athletic mascot was a source of frustration for Grover who said, “right now we’re the Wiscasset nobodies.”
Selectman Bob Blagden also questioned the wisdom of stripping the mascot in the “middle of the school year.”
In addition to the special election vote, the selectmen also approved drafting a formal letter to the RSU 12 School Board to document its formal opposition to their decision.
The Wiscasset Board of Selectmen meet next, Tues., Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.
