Damakant Jayshi
As the Wausau School District launched an initiative seeking community feedback for mascot changes, officials are yet again facing accusations of ignoring input from parents.
The district is working to choose new mascots for the newly created Wausau Junior and Senior High Schools, changes that will take effect in fall 2025.
One day after sending out an email to people who had volunteered to be part of “the mascot-input process,” district officials on Wednesday sent out another similar email to the wider community.
“We are reaching out to you because we’re officially beginning the process of gathering YOUR input on a new mascot for our newly merged junior and senior high schools!” the district wrote. Both communications include a link to the survey, which is also available on the district’s website.
The district is providing a list of about 30 options for potential mascots, asking the community to choose the top five among them. Officials say they’ll add options to the list “as they come in.” But some parents say that isn’t happening, adding to mounting frustration over the entire process.
“I find it interesting that they say they have been adding ideas to a list,” Norah Brown, a parent, told Wausau Pilot & Review. “I can tell you that I have spoken with two people who added suggestions based off of yesterday’s email and they have not been added.” Others also have accused the district officials and the Wausau School Board of lacking transparency over the district restructuring process, and expressed their grievances on social media.
District officials, however, deny that they are ignoring suggestions from parents and others in the community.
“The Wausau School District values the input of all of our stakeholders,” the district’s Coordinator of Communications & Marketing Diana White told this newspaper. “So much so, the entire Wausau community (students, parents/guardians, staff, and community members) will have 2 opportunities to participate in surveys designed to help us identify a new mascot for our merged junior and senior high schools.”
White said district officials offered an opportunity to every staff member and parent/guardian in the district to participate in the mascot-selection process. “Of the thousands of people who were offered the opportunity, more than 100 people volunteered,” White said, citing it as one of many examples “that, we believe, fulfills our goal of gathering input from everyone who has a sincere interest in the future of the Wausau School District.”
Brown said if officials have already made their choice, they should say so. She also questioned how the district complied the initial list.
“Since mascot discussions started, parents/guardians and staff across the district have been sending us their suggestions,” White said. “We’ve been keeping track of all of those suggestions and adding them to a running list.”
District officials will narrow the options down to the 20 top choices from suggestions provided by the community during the survey period.
“Once the top 20 choices are identified, we will be reaching out to this group again, so that you can help us narrow the list down even more,” the district wrote to the group of people who have expressed to directly participate in the mascot-selection process.
The mascot-selection is part of the district-wide restructuring plan that the Wausau School Board approved earlier this year. Last month, the board gave its nod to new names for the merged junior and senior high schools and approved blue and red to be the two central colors at the new Wausau Senior High.
