Cornell School Board; Districts may need to change mascots in near future

There’s nothing concrete, as of yet, but as Eileen Sikora reported at a Cornell School Board meeting Jan. 25, Cornell’s mascot might be required to undergo some changes. As board clerk, Sikora recently attended the Wisconsin Association of School Boards annual convention virtually.

There, for the first time in the 14 years since it’s been brought to the table at the annual convention, a mascot “situation” resolution that was brought before voting delegates, passed. The majority ruled on the recommendation to remove/ alter any offensive imagery or terminology, regarding a district’s mascot.

“It probably will not be a surprise, that we’ll probably be getting notification that we should change our mascot (Chiefs),” said Sikora. “Long story short, they’re (voting delegates) not happy with anything.”

It remains to be seen if anything will come of the recommendation, but Sikora wanted to report on what happened so a decision down the road does not come as a shock.

Sikora also learned that some districts are offering rapid COVID-19 tests, at $80 a test, as well as antigen tests, with the cost $120-$140 per test.

“In some school districts, they are testing their employees every other week,” said Sikora. “In one district, they test 50 of them. I guess we should knock on wood and count ourselves lucky (that the virus is under control within the district).”

Board president Lyle Briggs also attended the convention, where his interest was caught by the recommendation not to record Zoom sessions, as it is considered an open student record.

“You can get yourself into trouble without even realizing it,” said Briggs.

Although it hasn’t been without hiccups when involving Zoom, and quarantining staff and students, superintendent Paul Schley says the district is fairing good. Schley hopes to get people vaccinated as soon as possible, while a few people, such as health aides and special education staff, can already be offered vaccinations, if desired.

“We have 10 people vaccinated in the district already,” he said.

Moving to the business portion of the meeting, because COVID-19 has changed most everything in the way of meetings, the board agreed to update Policy 1.05 – Meetings. Board members who attend closed sessions, via remote access, will be asked to expressly affirm that they have taken appropriate precautions to safeguard the privacy and integrity of the closed session, which could impart confidential information.

Sikora said updating policies to reflect closed sessions was one of the things recommended at the board convention.

“Glad we’re staying on top of it,” said Schley.

Members also updated Policy 1.45–Contacting Legal Counsel.

“It’s a new policy,” said Schley.

To avoid unnecessary fees, the board president is the only board member authorized to contact legal counsel, when directed to do so by the board, for matters involving the superintendent. The superintendent is allowed to contact legal counsel when needed, while the principal or athletic director may contact their associations for free legal advice, but need approval from the superintendent for any legal counsel requiring payment.

The board also agreed not to set a cap for open enrollment to the district for the 2021-22 school year.

“We’ve never had caps, I don’t recommend we start,” said Schley. “We can take whoever we get at this point, we have a lot of space.”

Members also approved Chad Spegal, as a high school assistant football coach.

During the meeting, it was also discussed how to get students interested in applying for scholarships to help out with furthering their education. High school principal Dave Elliott says there are several local scholarships he highly recommends applying for, including some that were added just this year.

Elliott said, at the most, students will need to write an essay and tell a little bit about themselves, and that he and the school guidance counselor will continue to promote applying.

“There have been times, where nobody has applied for scholarships and it’s ridiculous,” said Elliott. “It’s free money.”

Elliott also mentioned that the after-school program has a competition ongoing for who can fill the most food boxes for the local food pantry, through March 5. The drive is looking for donations of non-perishable goods, with a couple high school students spearheading the collection.

“I’m very glad that we have an opportunity to give back to our community,” said Elliott.