Southern York County School District Discusses a Possible Logo Change

Southern York County School District prepares for a possible branding change, the removal of the District’s current logo.

Earlier this year, the Southern York County School Board asked the District administration to conduct a study to allow time for thoughtful discussion, research and analysis with various stakeholders to solicit input on the District’s current Native American logo.

The administration shared results from their research on March 25 at an Education Committee meeting which focused on the Native American Logo.

The majority of the meeting consisted of a presentation from Yawna Allen, the Director of Civic Engagement and Special Projects from the National Congress of American Indians. She spoke about the perspectives of the logo from the Native American viewpoint, alluding to how there is a deeper meaning behind logos.

Board member Deborah Kalina sees a move away from the Warrior head as a means to evolve as a community.

“It is not necessarily a problem if the school is named the ‘Warrior’ name,” said Kalina. “[There are] schools that do a hybrid where they keep the name and evolve the mascot. I think that the mascots evolve generally speaking throughout history. We grow as people, and it is not unlikely [that a mascot changes throughout time].”

Throughout the process, it is apparent that the School District will not consider any change to the Susquehannock High School’s name or the “Warrior” name- this is a major concern.

Allen shared her general knowledge throughout the meeting but pushed more for the idea that people gather knowledge and understanding before coming to a consensus.

“Just outside of the school system itself, it really does have an overarching effect on Native citizens throughout the country, as well so when these images and logos are still perpetuated, it still does make a blanket term for other tribal nations in other places elsewhere,” said Allen. “The general public who are not well informed can misconstrue that, and it still has repercussions for native people across the country. I would encourage folks to consider the different perspectives from different angles to get a really strong look at it from every perspective possible.”

As people attend the recent board meetings and listen to these talks, it allows many to get a different perspective on the situation.

Hypothetically speaking, after the votes are totaled and the conclusion is to evolve the logo, many different steps would need to be taken in order for everything to play out.

School Board President Bobby Schefter has not yet heard of a plan if the votes were to go in the direction of change.

“[The plan] would have to be determined if there was a vote that goes that way,” said Schefter. “There has not been any discussion yet about the steps that would be taken.”

In order to determine the decision, a survey has been sent out the week of April 6-9, which will assist the District in receiving feedback from the community.

The next meeting will take place on April 15 which is when the School Board will decide if further action should be taken in order to potentially change the current logo.