MONTVALE, N.J.—The four mayors representing the towns comprising the Pascack Valley Regional High School District have written a sharp letter to the superintendent and Board of Education on the board’s approval of new mascots for Pascack Hills and Pascack Valley.
The mayors—Michael Ghassali of Montvale, Glen Jasionowski of River Vale, Carlos Rendo of Woodcliff Lake, and John Ruocco of Hillsdale—pointedly accuse Superintendent P. Erik Gundersen and the board of “the appearance of a biased agenda” and a “troubling” lack of transparency during the decision-making process.
The mayors assert that the mascot change was run through by the board “at the behest of a very small but coordinated group of students… the One Spirit Club.”
Further, the mayors said they “recommend and seek that the entire process as well as the decision-makers’ participation in the process be fully investigated” by an independent board.
It is the mayors’ third joint letter on the subject since the board voted last year to retire the longstanding Cowboy and Indian mascots on the grounds that they no longer represented district values of inclusivity.
The board last week approved proposals recommended by student-led committees at both schools, selecting Panthers for Pascack Valley and Broncos for Pascack Hills.
The mayors acknowledged in their letter that the decision to change the mascots is the purview of the Board of Education.
They then expressed, in a three page document, their “disappointment and dissatisfaction with not only the decision, which we feel failed to be an educated and inclusive one, but, more importantly, with the process and the lack of transparency.”
We sought comment from the district’s administration and board. At press time, board president Tammy Molinelli replied, “Thank you for reaching out to me. Once the board has had the opportunity to thoroughly review the letter a response to you will follow.”
Here is the bulk of the letter:
First of all, we, as well as a large population in the Pascack Valley community, found it shocking that this divisive issue was made a priority during the pandemic crisis which already had the student body feeling disenfranchised to say the least. At a time when our students were, and continue to be, suffering emotionally, psychologically and academically as a result of the isolation and uncertainty created by the pandemic and the related restrictions, surely the time and effort spent on the school mascots could have been better spent focusing on the other needs of our students during this most uniquely difficult time in their young lives. At a time when a sense of community and unity was and is needed by our student body, we feel the decision to focus on changing the mascot was ill-advised, if not negligent, and certainly evidence of poor prioritizing.
Further, we find the lack of transparency during the decision-making process to be troubling. The Board of Education, at the behest of a very small but coordinated group of students seeking a mascot change, the “One Spirit” club, put this item on the BOE agenda in the late spring while many in our community were otherwise focused on serious personal and financial crises caused by the pandemic.
It appears the mascot change “item” was initially buried on the 23rd page of the BOE agenda with no notice to the public about what would clearly be a particularly polarizing issue.
Quickly moving this agenda item from a discussion—without the ability of the complete student body and the taxpaying members of our Pascack Valley community to participate—to a rushed vote by the Board was both questionable ethically and undermining to the Board’s purpose of serving the community and its students at large.
Specifically troubling are two emails that have been obtained via an OPRA request that have been circulated by the community on social media and have generated a sense of no confidence in the majority of the BOE to act on behalf of the taxpaying public. A May 20, 2020 email from Erik Gundersen to a teacher at PVHS explicitly sets forth Mr. Gundersen’s intent to manipulate “the dialogue” on the issue of the mascot change. It is clear from the same that at no time did he intend to obtain a wide perspective from the student body or the public on this issue.
The email reads: “The BOE would like to have four representatives meet via Zoom with One Spirit to learn more about the perspective of the students as it pertains to the school’s mascot and engage in some dialogue about the differing perspectives that people have regarding the mascot.”
This is clearly disingenuous with regard to his seeking “differing perspectives” as the One Spirit club had only one point of view – to remove Pascack Valley’s school mascot.
Further, and more disconcerting, the email continues: “Right now I am looking to cap this to four BOE members so it does not have to be open to the public.” Again, the appearance of a biased “agenda” is apparent.
Also significantly, it was not unnoticed by the community members who were present during
the Zoom public meetings regarding the mascot issue that the large percentage of those selected by Mr. Gundersen to participate were in favor of the mascot changes while opponents of the decision, although present on the call, were not given the opportunity to speak.
This concern has been validated by a second email to have surfaced from Mr. Gundersen to the BOE dated June 22, 2020 which states in relevant part: “All I see on my Zoom screen during the meeting will be the first name of the attendees. If One Spirit has coordinated if/who will be speaking on behalf of the organization—please let me know. If possible, I will call on that person to speak first, during public comment so they can set the tone for further comments.”
Inarguably, this manipulation of the public meeting and the decision-making process in general is not only highly unethical for a member of the BOE but also seriously unprofessional for a paid superintendent of our schools.
As such, on behalf of the communities that we jointly serve which comprise the Pascack Valley school district, we recommend and seek that the entire process as well as the decision-makers’ participation in the process be fully investigated by an independent board created by the current BOE and to include community members, from which the superintendent, the BOE president and any other BOE members found to have been complicit in this highly irregular conduct must recuse themselves.
We are dismayed to have to seek such action when our student body is facing the many significant challenges of our times. However, we believe it would be unconscionable not to hold our BOE responsible to them and to the taxpaying community especially at this time. The BOE and the process failed our student body which should have been given the opportunity at a much more appropriate time to allow for inclusivity and diversity in the […] process.
To have denied the entire student body the ability to share their unique and individual perspectives as to the mascots and the failure to give the students the option to retain their school mascots was disingenuous and fell short of what we would expect from the academic community.
This was especially true at a time when our youth so desperately needs a sense of community and inclusivity. The actions of the BOE only served to further disenfranchise our students and that is simply not acceptable. We know the BOE can do better and look forward to working with and supporting the BOE to ensure the future success of the BOE in our mutual service to the Pascack Valley community.