At the North Hills School District Board of Education meeting on Sept. 15, a
resolution was introduced that would, if passed next month, discontinue the district’s use of the Indian chief logo while keeping the name “Indians” as an identifier for the district's athletic teams.
The resolution was drafted after community feedback following the district's town hall held in June was thoroughly reviewed.
The board voted 7-2 in favor of moving the resolution to its next meeting on Oct. 6 where it will be voted on for approval.
Under the resolution, if passed, the district will work with a graphic artist to establish district logos and images for district use, establish guidelines for acceptable graphic identification of the district and its athletic teams, and post those guidelines on the district website prior to the start of the 2023-24 school year.
Additionally, NHSD would replace items with the existing Indian chief logo through its normal replacement cycle using established district logos and images established under the resolution.
Board members Allison Mathis, Dee Spade, Sandra Kozera, Phil Little, Katie Poniatowski, Rachael Rennebeck and Mike Santucci voted in favor of the resolution. Board members Deanna Philpott and Elizabeth Nease voted against the resolution.
In prepared remarks, Board President Allison Mathis said, “I think this is a financially responsible resolution that takes the feedback from the town hall and the written comments the district received into consideration. This feedback was also made publicly available on the district website (
linked here) for anyone to review. Community feedback is important. As a board we have all worked really hard to listen to the community on this topic and put in a lot of time to get to a juncture where we even have a resolution to consider. In reviewing both the Town Hall transcript and the written comments feedback was mixed, probably much like the feelings of the board. Written submissions did not favor change, the town hall participants slightly favored change. It is my opinion that a sweeping change without the support of a certain percentage of the community would be a mistake. This resolution is obviously a compromise. However, we need a path forward. As leaders in the community, who have put a lot of time and work into soliciting feedback, in a world that is often so polarized, I am hopeful that we can come together on this compromise and move beyond it to focus on education.”
The board's discussion can be watched below.