By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The committee tasked with creating a new logo for Wakefield Memorial High School has narrowed the choices down to three possible designs, School Superintendent Doug Lyons told the School Committee this week.
But questions were raised about why one of the three finalists was even in the mix.
The need for a new high school logo was created when the School Committee voted a year ago to eliminate the 74-year-old Wakefield Warrior logo, which consisted of an image of an American Indian in a headdress, on the grounds that it was offensive to Native Americans. The move caused division in the community and led to a non-binding question on last April’s Town Election ballot. Residents voted to retain the logo, but the School Committee decision weeks earlier prevailed.
In the wake of the decision to eliminate logo, the School Committee’s Policy Subcommittee created a new policy on “Logos, Mascots and Team Names.” That policy stipulated that, “Mascots, logos, team names, and/or nicknames will not be derogatory or offensive to persons of any race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion or age. Neither should the mascot, logo, team name and/or nickname depict violence or abuse.”
The policy document also set forth a process by which new school logos would be created. That process calls for the superintendent to appoint a committee consisting of the school principal, school faculty and staff members, students, parents and “community members.” The committee’s charge, according to the policy, is to come up with up to three logo designs. Those designs are then be presented to the superintendent for review. “The Superintendent, in consultation with the committee, will make a recommendation(s) to the School Committee for final approval,” the policy states.
Lyons reported this week that the logo committee, consisting of four adults and 10 students, had reviewed 12 logo options and narrowed the list down to three, and then presented them to him for review. Those three designs include one created by a student, one created by an adult and a pre-existing logo that was actually rolled out early in 2020, months before the School Committee was approached by the Youth Council in October 2020 to consider eliminating the old Warrior logo. That pre-existing logo consists of a “W” with the word “Warriors” emblazoned over it.
Lyons told the School Committee this week that he would review the three options with the Policy and Communications Subcommittee and then bring one recommendation forward to the full School Committee.
School Committee member Ami Wall, who also served on the logo committee, questioned why the pre-existing logo was in the mix.
“The way I read the policy,” Wall said, “a committee would be put together and that committee would come up with logos. So, I’m wondering why that one was pushed forward, when that’s not one that was created by the committee.”
Lyons deferred answering the question until after he spoke with the Policy and Communications Subcommittee.
“We can talk about that in committee and address it when we move it forward,” he said.
Lyons also said that he wanted to have some members of the logo committee come to a School Committee meeting and talk about the experience and what they found compelling about the different logo options.