School Issues Newsletter #61

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Subj: School Issues Newsletter #61: Mascots, Snow Routes & Early Release
Date: 10/22/99 9:14:05 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: jklagge@bev.net (Jim Klagge)

Dear Friends,

Several issues have been discussed recently which I thought you might like to hear more about. (If you do not wish to be on the mailing list for this newsletter, please let me know and I will remove you.)

Mascots- About a month ago I read an op-ed piece in the Roanoke Times by Jeff Corntassel about Indian mascots. Having grown up in Cleveland, I had already given some thought to Chief Wahoo and things like that. But his piece reminded me that perhaps we should think some more about these kinds of things here. I shared my concern about this, and copies of his piece, with some people. But it was a surprise to me when three people spoke to this issue during public address at the last SB meeting. And channel 7 was there to record it, and tried to interview me on camera. Then last night I heard it being discussed on a local call-in radio show. My position from the start has been that I hoped this could be addressed and resolved at the school level. I would rather not have it become a SB-level issue. But I did not preclude that. That is what I have said to all the media. Shawsville HS, in its transition to being Eastern Montgomery HS, has gone through a process of choosing a new mascot to replace the Shawnee. They will now be the Mustangs. I think that was a very opportune way to handle that.

Apparently this issue has the potential to be very passionate. I'm trying to understand that. After talking to a few different people, here's what I've come up with. Opponents of Indian mascots tend to present the issue as one in which Indians are being insulted or disrespected or offended by mascots. I think they tend to use moralistic language like that to make their case, and give it oompf. (Is that how you spell that word?) Then people who have these mascots feel accused of prejudice and immorality, when nothing like that was intended. In fact, sometimes they can't understand why Indians or others would consider them offensive. If we try to drain the moralistic edge from this issue, perhaps it could be more peaceably resolved along these lines: I don't know how professional sports teams should approach this issue, but I think public schools have a special responsibility to look out for the feelings and concerns of all students and citizens. Some are clearly especially uncomfortable with this mascot. On the other side, why should we keep it? Perhaps some students and citizens (but I think students are more relevant here) especially identify with BEING the Indians (or having BEEN the Indians when they were in school). By changing the mascot we would be harming this sense of identity. Now I'm not a huge BHS sports fan, though I've been to several football games this year, but I have trouble believing there are many who feel this sort of deep identity AS AN Indian. Of course, that's what we are used to, but couldn't we fairly easily get used to something else? How important is it to keep that mascot, just because that's what it's been? Couldn't we, just as a gesture of sensitivity, or even solidarity, accept the idea of looking for another mascot--without getting defensive about it? I appreciate the fact that the speakers at the SB meting, and also Mr. Corntassel's piece, took a toned-down approach, and were not abrasive. I hope that helps the direction of this discussion.

Without trying to create more issues, I note that some people might have concerns about the Blue Demons mascot. I would be sympathetic to those concerns as well.

Snow Routes-Right from the time I came onto the SB in January, 1996, I was asked why we don't have snow routes for buses, to avoid missing so much school time. Apparently over the last few years some work had been done by certain administrators to look into this issue, but a change in Director of Transportation last year delayed any report. We did, finally, have a report and discussion of the possibilities at our last meeting. There was a map of what routes could be used by buses--i.e., primary and secondary roads, what percentage of students could easily reach these routes without parental assistance, and what other nearby counties have considered this. The "pro's" of snow routes are fairly obvious, if they could be made to work. So I will set out the qualms. In Blacksburg, 80% of students live close to snow routes, in Christiansburg, 85%, but in Shawsville and Auburn, only about 25%. This obviously creates inequities for students, and makes their attendance quite dependent on their parents' assistance. Not only might there be the need for parental assistance, but there is a concern about children being dropped off by parents at a snow route bus stop--where would a lot of students stand to wait? Would there be room for them to stand in a safe area? Would there be room for a lot of cars to be parked waiting for the bus to arrive? If students arrived at the bus stop late, what would happen to them? Would we have multiple bus runs to get stragglers? There is also a concern about dropping children off at a bus stop away from their home. Would children be allowed to leave the bus if no parent was waiting there for them? If children were going to walk to or from the stop, how safe is that along snowy roads?

Though a number of nearby counties have at least considered snow routes, only three have ever had them, and only Roanoke City still has them. Our new Director of Transportation, Ms. Mumaw, most recently worked in Roanoke City, and she said that even there she had fears about kids walking several blocks along icy streets to get to and from the stop. The other two counties had ultimately stopped using snow routes. Apparently safety and equity were big factors there. Finally, the administration estimated that of the 10 snow days we had last year, perhaps 2 or 3 would have been days when we would have been able to use snow routes.

Based on this information, and discussion of it, one SB member moved to have the administration go forward with an eye to implementing snow routes on a trial basis, but the motion died for lack of a second. I think most of us were impressed by the safety and equity concerns.

Early Release days-Each year in the Spring, when it is time to approve a calendar, the SB discusses whether to retain early release days for elementary students, and if so, how many and when. This issue began when I first came on the board. I lobbied to get elementary teachers more planning time, so that it would be more equitable with secondary teachers. At first the idea was to have aides to cover some times, such as recess, when teachers could be freed up. But that was an expense that we did not fund in the budget that year. Then the next year the administration proposed we might have several early release days for this purpose, which would not pose added costs. It did, in a sense, shift the cost to parents, to provide added child care. This was not ideal, but is was doable. Despite some complaints, I think this has been accepted by parents. But the SB is concerned to find ways to make this have less of an impact on parents. We had a work session at our last meeting in which various options were discussed. One possibility, which some parents have suggested, is finding a way to have all the early release days fall on the same day of the week, so they are easier to plan for. Pulaski has early release on a regular basis, but much more often than we do. There was a concern that this would take too much time away from instruction, especially in light of SoL testing. Since early release for elementary students has to be 2 and 1/2 hours, to get that done before secondary buses have to run, we can't have shorter early releases, but it was suggested that we could have shorter "late beginnings". Perhaps elementary schools could start 1 and 1/2 hours late, on a more regular basis. Since children get no particular "programming" during their early released time away from school, perhaps the schools could have early release from classroom activities, without sending the kids home. Possibly they could be kept at school and shown a movie, with skeleton supervision, allowing teachers to plan. (Though apparently some school system has been sued by Disney for fees from showing their movies!) This could be quite flexible, giving release time to different combinations of teachers or grade levels as desired. In a sense, this would be going back to my original idea of keeping the kids at school, but with alternative supervision. Perhaps parents or PTA's could help with this. The administration will form a task force to look at some real proposals along some of these lines, and report back to the SB in January. If you like any of these ideas, or have some others, let me know, and I will pass them on. The administration is committed to trying to find some ways to make this more workable for parents.

Thanks for your attention and time,

Jim Klagge
Montgomery County School Board
Chair, and District F Representative.

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