Sandusky Mascot Remains Hot Topic

By William R. Dixon
Tribune Recorder Leader

The Sandusky School Board of Education met in regular session on Monday evening October 17, 2022.
The Board spent about a relatively small amount time on school related business, while public comments occupied most of the two and a half hour long meeting.
The public comments were mostly centered around the retirement of the Redskin mascot and subsequent removal of the school signage in and around the school as well as Albrecht Field, Woodard Field and the Mark S. Hund Gymnasium.
The majority opinion of those that stepped to the podium were not in favor of the mascot change.
The group of objectors, led by Rick Spiegel, Wilma Henderson and Raymie Ellis have been championing the preservation of the mascot for months and have appeared before the school board on multiple occasions.
This month they informed the Board that a survey was mailed to all registered voters within the school district. The mailing list was obtained from the Sanilac County Clerk’s office. The survey just asks one question. Are you in favor of the Redskin mascot change? Yes or No. The return postage prepaid card was addressed to a Sandusky PO Box.
The group stated that more than 4,000 were mailed and they plan to present the results to the Board at the next regular meeting scheduled for November 21, 2022, though the results will be unverifiable.
Meanwhile, the new mascot selection committee has met twice since the last board meeting. The committee received 375 responses for the committee to review. The student group first narrowed the field from 27 to 12 and most recently down to five.
The next step planned is for the students to create an image and be offered a chance to articulate their reasons behind choosing that image for the mascot. It is hoped that a final culling will narrow the field to three. Once the top three choices have been selected, public opinion will again be sought before the final decision is made.
In other school board happenings, the Board unanimously approved a $10,000 expenditure from the District Improvement fund for the Albrecht Field Baseball & Softball Complex Safety Improvement and Player Development Project. The total project cost, estimated to be above $40,000, will be paid for with public donations according to event champions Tom Albrecht and Mike Stoliker.
An additional $10,204 was approved for district school building improvements.
Finally, the Board approved the winter coaching assignments of: BB Head Coach Brandon Guibord, Asst. Collin Rymarz, JV BB Danny Hale.
Girls BB Coach Al DeMott, Asst Ray Lee, Ally Blank, JV Keegan Lasecki. Wrestling Coach Adam Filkins, Assts: Mike Stoliker, Jess McKenney, Jacob Horst, and Jeff Ryan. Boys & Girls Bowling Janeen Hughes, Asst. Erica Jones. Cheerleading Brittany Mata, Ashley Jones. Hockey: Bob Beagle, Assts: Matt Dickendescher, Paul Lamm and Brandon Blank.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:48 p.m.