HILLSDALE, N.J.—At an emotional three-hour meeting March 22, the Pascack Valley Regional High School District superintendent defended his actions related to retiring the Cowboy and Indian mascots, while a majority of callers—including Hillsdale’s mayor—criticized the process used as non-transparent and not inclusive of all students.
Hillsdale Mayor John Ruocco called in to the meeting to describe the district’s process as Orwellian.
Most school trustees—including Board President Tammy Molinelli—called for respect by callers criticizing the board and its decision to retire and replace the mascots—and said they were upset about the treatment from some residents who had made threatening statements on social media or inappropriate comments in person to them or their family members.
Responding to the four district mayors’ letter that was highly critical of the process used by the board in its unanimous June 22, 2020 decision to retire the half-century-old mascots, Superintendent P. Erik Gundersen rebutted charges that the process lacked transparency.
Days after the March 8 board meeting where trustees voted, 5–4, to approve the Pascack Valley Panthers and Pascack Hills Broncos, Hillsdale Mayor John Ruocco, Montvale Mayor Michael Ghassali, River Vale Mayor Glen Jasionowski, and Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo of Woodcliff Lake sent the board a letter accusing it of “the appearance of a biased agenda” and a “troubling” lack of transparency during the mascots decision.
The mayors called for an independent investigation of district decision-makers’ participation, and cited emails from Gundersen, before and during the June 22, 2020 meeting where a unanimous vote was taken to retire both mascots.
[See “PVRHSD board meets March 22; critical mayors await response,” March 22.]
Gundersen said he had reached out to the district’s attorney, Fogarty & Hara of Fair Lawn, regarding the mayors’ letter and was told he could respond to its accusations in public.
Following discussion by trustees Michael Weaver, Joseph Blundo, and Gundersen, it was determined that any future concerns about ethics or investigations involving personnel were best addressed via the state education department’s ethics commission.
(At the same meeting, by unanimous vote, the board approved Blundo as its vice president following the resignation of Montvale member Janet Bissinger, effective March 16.)
The mayors have no legal authority to demand an investigation into the regional school board, said the district’s attorney, as the councils are separate government entities. The mayors noted that in their letter.
Also, Molinelli informed board members that any trustee can request a closed executive session to discuss a possible personnel issue if they wish at any time.
Blundo noted if any trustee still feels “unsettled” weeks from now on the issue, they could request an executive session to discuss actions of school personnel.
As for an independent board investigation into the mascot selection process, Molinelli said it’s “not anything I’m recommending or supporting.”
At one point, Molinelli reminded callers of the mascot issue, “This is a final decision” and that there’s no ongoing board dialogue on the matter.
She said that as students were watching the discussion she hoped callers would “keep the comments respectful.”
Last year, the regional board posted a 1,000-word explanation of its vote on the district website.
Student journalists at Pascack Valley High School have been following the matter closely, reporting on it in a ranging and award-winning series, “What’s in a Name?”
As PV Student Publication reported March 18, with seven students and three faculty members Pascack Valley’s Logo Selection Committee is preparing to move beyond mascots, to hold its first meeting within weeks.
Superintendent holds firm
Gundersen said his views on the Indian mascot evolved from his days as a district teacher, dating to 1994. He dismissed allegations that the process was not transparent and highlighted the ongoing role of students in pushing for change in the school mascots, starting in 2015 and most recently in 2019.
In a lengthy statement, he decried efforts to “discredit” the mascots’ selection, and noted “We are in the midst of a pandemic and need to get our students back into our buildings. This board needs to focus on our district goals and moving our schools forward with the cutting-edge curriculum and instruction methods that we are known for.”
He said “We need to focus on celebrating our seniors, allowing them to rally around new mascots that they helped develop, and gather for proms and graduation.”
He also gave background:
In 2019, he said, a four-town coalition formed the Unity in the Valley effort to “stand up against hate” and that eventually led to students at both schools “who felt marginalized and undervalued” by the Indian and Cowboy mascots to come forward.
He said that after he witnessed representatives of One Spirit Club, which pushed for removal of the Indian mascot, as being “inappropriately targeted and attacked by members of our community,” he worked with the school board president to allow them to speak first when they called into the June 2020 meeting about the mascots.
He said that decision was “proper and warranted” given the group’s treatment and said the board president and superintendent “have the right” to allow students or other dignitaries to speak first at a meeting when requested.
Gundersen noted following the board’s unanimous June 22 mascots’ retirement decision, at its next June 25 meeting, 27 of 36 public commenters agreed with the decision.
Moreover, he said the majority of emails received post-mascot retirement supported the decision to replace them.
He praised the student committees tasked with undertaking a schoolwide process to develop new mascot options.
Student representatives from both Pascack Valley and Pascack Hills mascot committees made several presentations to board members and took surveys of each high school’s students and staff about possible mascot options.
He noted 68% of students and staff supported Pascack Valley Panthers and 70% supported Pascack Hills Broncos.
He said nearly $7,500 has been spent compiling and reviewing mascot-related emails requested by the public via public records requests and he estimated “substantial” costs to review and release nearly 14,000 more requested emails.
“Do we really need to spend more time and money to see how many more can discredit this process?” Gundersen asked. He said “a small but every vocal group of adults” in district towns were leading the opposition to the selection process and new mascots.
In their own words
While the majority of public commenters called out trustees and Gundersen for a lack of transparency and not counting students who wanted to maintain the Indian and Cowboy as mascots, others thanked the board for removing what they saw as non-inclusive and offensive mascots.
Several residents spoke at both public comment periods and Molinelli offered callers multiple opportunities to speak and voice concerns during both public sessions.
Cheryl Groves of River Vale said she was glad students chose new mascots, but that the mayors’ letter criticizing the school board “does not reflect well on our communities.” She urged the community to “please let’s move on, the kids have voted.”
Eli Moelle of River Vale said the whole selection process “was mismanaged and everyone knew it” and he called Gundersen’s response to the mayors “disingenuous and flawed.”
He also questioned the possible use of a black panther as the high school’s mascot.
(Midland Park’s mascot is a black panther this has not been seen to lead to negative impacts.)
He criticized Gundersen’s comment that a “small, vocal minority” was behind the opposition and questioned if the district can move forward with Gundersen as superintendent.
Jessica Frohlich of River Vale noted some students “feel defeated and invisible” in the mascot selection process.
She said school officials and trustees should have focused on reopening schools and not changing mascots.
She noted she was “deeply disturbed” that funds will be spent on mascot and logo rebranding instead of classrooms. Later in the meeting, trustees unanimously approved up to $11,926.25 for a consultant to guide the district “in the process of developing new mascot logos” that includes designs for logos and a branding guide for how to use the logos.
Trustee Michael Weaver urged the board and superintendent to incorporate the efforts of high school students who may want to come up with mascot logos and Gundersen agreed. Weaver also pushed the finance committee to come up with final mascot rebranding costs, previously estimated at $276,000, for board decisions moving forward.
Ruocco called in to express concerns about the polarizing and incendiary nature of the mascots debate.
“In return for speaking our minds about a process, the mayors have received several emails from the supporters of the mascot change. Most of these emails accused us of being racists and bigots, creating division in the community, creating a haven for white supremacists, harming the self-esteem of indigenous people and being responsible for a disproportionate murder rate of indigenous women,” said Ruocco.
“And finally, of supporting an image that is akin to ‘what a noose is to African Americans,’ I find the latter particularly insulting, as I am part of a bi-racial family. The language in these emails used similar phrases, and was clearly organized [or] cut from the same template, exactly the same situation as was displayed in the June 2020 BOE meeting. It was then and is now a coordinated effort by supporters of the mascot change,” he said.
He added, “I find it ironic and troubling that the same people who made their case for a change in the mascot based on cultural appropriation concerns and harming the sensitivities of native Americans, claim that the mayors have no right to voice their opinion about what happened in June.”
Ruocco said, “We [mayors] are to be silent and complacent. It reminds me of the world of George Orwell that I read about when I was in high school. That is something that the BOE and the school administration needs to be concerned about regardless of how you feel about mascots.”