Blackcat1954
09-23-2009, 08:08 AM
Published September 23, 2009
From The Bay City Tribune
Bay City school board trustees exchanged heated words in a discussion concerning the new Blackcat logo during their regular meeting at the central administration building Monday, Sept. 21.
The trustees took sides on the issue of the new Blackcat logo in a half-hour discussion that began with Trustee Andrew Smith expressing his opposition to the logo.
"I don't think that the logo protects the tradition," said Smith.
"I can look at the logo and I can't determine if it's a lion, a tiger, a cougar, a leopard - I don't know."
According to Smith, even though there may be 11 different versions of the old Blackcat emblem, it was always recognizable.
"I've been a Blackcat and a Hilliard Panther all my life," he said.
"My kids were Blackcats. And, yes, it's near and dear to my heart because I don't think it represents who we are."
Robert Blackmon, Bay City ISD athletic director, and Greg Horn, Bay City High School girls' athletic coordinator were both present for the meeting.
Smith said he was disappointed that Blackmon was at the meeting.
"I have no idea why the athletic director is here tonight and I really don't want to get him in the middle of this because I think it is wrong," said Smith.
"I think it is a decision that we, as elected officials, need to make and I don't think he needs to be called into the middle of this."
Trustee Chris Crummett said he hadn't heard any complaints about the new logo from citizens.
"I have not had one single complaint to me about the new logo," he said.
"I see a lot of people at the football games wearing the new logo."
Crummett argued that the decision concerning a logo, as opposed to the school's mascot, wasnt the school board's to make.
"The school board's function is policy, budget and the superintendent," he said.
"My concern is that it is not the power of the school board to change the decision of either the (athletic director) or the superintendent when it doesn't deal with policy."
Crummett said he felt that changing the logo would become a matter of budget because he was worried that the process of removing the emblem from district vehicles would be costly.
"Another thing is, the (athletic director) came up with the logo along with the approval of the superintendent," he said.
"I support them."
Paul Johnson, Bay City ISD board of trustees president, and Smith said the emblems displayed on the district vehicles were stickers and could be easily removed.
Johnson shared Smith's disapproval of the new logo, saying it was unrecognizable and had garnered complaints from retired coaches and senior citizens.
When the decision to modernize the logo was made, Johnson pointed out that the board of trustees was not notified.
"I've made some phone calls this week and I can't find anywhere that anyone has come in and decided to change the logo without talking to the school board," he said.
Trustees Randy Volkmer and Eva Rutherford agreed that the decision to change the logo should have been brought to the board for discussion.
Crummett said that because there is no policy that guides the process of changing the logo, the trustees' discussion of an administrators decision, in his opinion, was an attempt at micromanaging.
"If we want to have the logo changed then we need to write a policy," said Crummett.
"Until the policy is done, if the superintendent, the athletic director or whoever made the decision, I think us having this on (the agenda) right now is basically saying micromanagement."
Trustee Jim Humphries said the change was made and the board of trustees didnt have a policy in place to keep it from being changed.
"I think maybe we need to establish a policy for the future," he said.
"I don't think we, as a board, need to be the ones to do that anyway."
"Because there has been a huge outcry in the community, I think the community should be involved in getting to that point," Humphries said.
Johnson left the boardroom to make a phone call to the district's attorney during the discussion.
He said the attorney advised them not to create a new policy regarding an athletic logo change.
The trustees voted, unanimously, to keep the new logo for the remainder of the year and change it back to the old logo next year.
In other BCISD news, trustees:
honored Carolyn Jernigan, Linda Leissner, Enrique Garay and Terry Blackmon during the celebration of excellence;
were entertained by Carla Davis' first period language arts class from McAllister Intermediate School as they presented a musical version of the spotlight on their school;
approved an interlocal agreement with the City of Bay City for the construction of a competition softball facility;
entered an owner agent services agreement with Vireo Performance Systems L.L.C. to investigate the cause of the two-inch vertical rise in the foundation of the Bay City High School building facility.
From The Bay City Tribune
Bay City school board trustees exchanged heated words in a discussion concerning the new Blackcat logo during their regular meeting at the central administration building Monday, Sept. 21.
The trustees took sides on the issue of the new Blackcat logo in a half-hour discussion that began with Trustee Andrew Smith expressing his opposition to the logo.
"I don't think that the logo protects the tradition," said Smith.
"I can look at the logo and I can't determine if it's a lion, a tiger, a cougar, a leopard - I don't know."
According to Smith, even though there may be 11 different versions of the old Blackcat emblem, it was always recognizable.
"I've been a Blackcat and a Hilliard Panther all my life," he said.
"My kids were Blackcats. And, yes, it's near and dear to my heart because I don't think it represents who we are."
Robert Blackmon, Bay City ISD athletic director, and Greg Horn, Bay City High School girls' athletic coordinator were both present for the meeting.
Smith said he was disappointed that Blackmon was at the meeting.
"I have no idea why the athletic director is here tonight and I really don't want to get him in the middle of this because I think it is wrong," said Smith.
"I think it is a decision that we, as elected officials, need to make and I don't think he needs to be called into the middle of this."
Trustee Chris Crummett said he hadn't heard any complaints about the new logo from citizens.
"I have not had one single complaint to me about the new logo," he said.
"I see a lot of people at the football games wearing the new logo."
Crummett argued that the decision concerning a logo, as opposed to the school's mascot, wasnt the school board's to make.
"The school board's function is policy, budget and the superintendent," he said.
"My concern is that it is not the power of the school board to change the decision of either the (athletic director) or the superintendent when it doesn't deal with policy."
Crummett said he felt that changing the logo would become a matter of budget because he was worried that the process of removing the emblem from district vehicles would be costly.
"Another thing is, the (athletic director) came up with the logo along with the approval of the superintendent," he said.
"I support them."
Paul Johnson, Bay City ISD board of trustees president, and Smith said the emblems displayed on the district vehicles were stickers and could be easily removed.
Johnson shared Smith's disapproval of the new logo, saying it was unrecognizable and had garnered complaints from retired coaches and senior citizens.
When the decision to modernize the logo was made, Johnson pointed out that the board of trustees was not notified.
"I've made some phone calls this week and I can't find anywhere that anyone has come in and decided to change the logo without talking to the school board," he said.
Trustees Randy Volkmer and Eva Rutherford agreed that the decision to change the logo should have been brought to the board for discussion.
Crummett said that because there is no policy that guides the process of changing the logo, the trustees' discussion of an administrators decision, in his opinion, was an attempt at micromanaging.
"If we want to have the logo changed then we need to write a policy," said Crummett.
"Until the policy is done, if the superintendent, the athletic director or whoever made the decision, I think us having this on (the agenda) right now is basically saying micromanagement."
Trustee Jim Humphries said the change was made and the board of trustees didnt have a policy in place to keep it from being changed.
"I think maybe we need to establish a policy for the future," he said.
"I don't think we, as a board, need to be the ones to do that anyway."
"Because there has been a huge outcry in the community, I think the community should be involved in getting to that point," Humphries said.
Johnson left the boardroom to make a phone call to the district's attorney during the discussion.
He said the attorney advised them not to create a new policy regarding an athletic logo change.
The trustees voted, unanimously, to keep the new logo for the remainder of the year and change it back to the old logo next year.
In other BCISD news, trustees:
honored Carolyn Jernigan, Linda Leissner, Enrique Garay and Terry Blackmon during the celebration of excellence;
were entertained by Carla Davis' first period language arts class from McAllister Intermediate School as they presented a musical version of the spotlight on their school;
approved an interlocal agreement with the City of Bay City for the construction of a competition softball facility;
entered an owner agent services agreement with Vireo Performance Systems L.L.C. to investigate the cause of the two-inch vertical rise in the foundation of the Bay City High School building facility.