Neshaminy School District officials confirmed rumors on Tuesday that Langhorne resident Donna Boyle filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission over the high school’s use of its team name – the Redskins.
The district has 30 days to file a written response to the complaint. Boyle previously filed a complaint with the Bucks County Human Relations Council in February.
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Boyle said previously at school board meetings that the district is promoting a “racist” term during sporting events and by placing the school’s American Indian mascot on official documents. She has claimed her teenage son is subjected to hearing the term on a daily basis.
School Board President Ritchie Webb said the district will likely work to negotiate a compromise or settlement. “We’ll take baby steps,” he said.
“Whenever someone says something is racist or derogatory, we want to investigate it and gather all the information,” Webb said. So far, he told LevittownNow.com that he had close to 500 pages of information on the topic.
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“I think we should do the right thing, but I’m not sure we’re doing anything wrong,” Webb said.
He added that Poquessing Middle School, Playwickian and even Neshaminy are all Native American words. Several other area school districts also have schools
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The Redskins controversy has flared up in the district several times over the past few years with Boyle often leading the charge. Recently, the controversy over the Washington Redskins NFL team has garnered national debate. President Barack Obama weighed in this week and said that if he was team owner Dan Snyder, he would consider moving Redskin from the name. Snyder has stated several occasion that he will not change the name of the franchise.
Some school district across the nation have changed their Native American-based team names and mascots in recent years over concerns.
The response in Neshaminy has been pretty similar to Snyder’s. Many residents have supported keeping the name.
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Monday, the day the complaint with the state was filed, a page titled “Don’t Change The Redskin Name” appeared on Facebook. The page features comments from district students, residents and a teacher supporting the name.
In February, board member Mark Shubin said the Redskins name was something the school district should look into further.
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Webb said the Redskins name can be traced back 65 or 70 years in the district. He added that the team founders likely didn’t mean the team name to be derogatory or racist.
“Kids have pride in the high school and the name,” he said. “There are rich traditions and memories associated with the school.”
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Some have said at school board meetings that they think the name is honoring the local Native Americans, who once lived in the area.
“We’d like to see the community voice their opinion and want to respect the process,” Webb said.
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The best way to do that is during public comment at upcoming school board meetings.
