© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Wichita Public Schools: 'It Is Time' To Discuss Changing North High Mascot

Nadya Faulx
/
KMUW
Wichita Public Schools will have a public discussion on July 30 about changing the North High mascot.

Wichita Public Schools says it will begin discussions this month about possibly changing the North High mascot.

In a statement posted to social media Monday, the district says it and the Board of Education "agree that it is time to have a community conversation" about the Redskins nickname.

The district said it's already been speaking with local representatives of the Native American community; an initial public discussion will be held on July 30 during the regular BOE meeting, "with a plan developed for community engagement to follow."

"We have received many questions regarding North High’s mascot in light of national discussions," the district said in the statement.

The question of whether to change the Redskins name has come up several times in the school's 91-year history: In the late 1990s, a committee was formed to take public feedback on the issue, and the debate resurfaced again in 2013.

The district's announcement followed news that Washington's NFL team would change its name under pressure from activists and sponsors.

Nadya Faulx is KMUW's Digital News Editor and Reporter, which means she splits her time between working on-air and working online, managing news on KMUW.org, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. She joined KMUW in 2015 after working for a newspaper in western North Dakota. Before that she was a diversity intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.