Peru residents and alumni express opposition to mascot change
By John T. Ryan
Twenty-five residents were present at last night’s Peru Central School Town Hall Community Meeting. The subject was the Board of Education’s (BOE) July 14th decision to retire the “Indian” as Peru’s school mascot. No Board of Education (BOE) members attended. Superintendent Thomas Palmer said Health Department COVID-19 regulations limit attendance to no more than 50 people. He anticipated 50 or more people would try to attend; therefore, he advised the BOE not to participate and that he would respond to questions.
Everyone who spoke was against retiring the “Indian” as the school’s mascot. They were especially incensed that the School Board (BOE) make the change on July 14th without hearing from the taxpayers and alumni. School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Palmer said he advised against making the change without input, but a majority of BOE members disagreed. He said he would bring the concerns expressed to the BOE and that people would be welcome to express their concerns during the public comment part of the next regular BOE meeting.
Several people requested that an in-person meeting be conducted rather than online and asked for the meeting to be widely publicized.
Posted: July 23rd, 2020 under Education News, Peru School News, Peru/Regional History.