Pictured is the current JHS logo on the back of the high school building. P-J photo by Cameron Hurst

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the renewed discussion over the cultural sensitivity of the Jamestown High School mascot were among topics discussed by Jamestown Public Schools superintendent during a live-streamed conversation with members of the Jamestown Justice Coalition.

The coalition, formed in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement over the summer, discussed on Tuesday several topics with Kevin Whitaker, who began his tenure as the district’s superintendent in July. Participants in the discussion included Corey Brown, Emily Garrick, Alize Scott and Justin Hubbard.

Whitaker said the district reported 22 new cases of the coronavirus last week across its elementary, middle and high school buildings — only four of those were in-person learners. Four JPS-related cases were announced on Monday and three more were announced on Tuesday. Contact tracing has shown that the virus has not spread in school.

“This week, it’s been ‘Here we go,'” he said. “Dr. (Anthony) Fauci said that two-and-a-half weeks after the holidays is when that major spike comes and we’re seeing cases. What is happening is we’ve had a combination of remote learning students, remote teachers and in-person teachers and some in-person kids and staff having contact with people who are infected or were infected in the past.”

He noted that if the district “started seeing 10 cases a day, then we’d have to look at going remote for Monday, Dec. 21st and Tuesday, 22nd,” being the two days leading up to the holiday break.

“I am hopeful that unless we get a major hit (Wednesday) or (Thursday) day, we’re going ot be able to get to Monday and Tuesday without going 100% remote,” he said, noting that a remote-only week is scheduled for the week after the holiday break to guard against infection after the holidays.

However, after hearing Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, explain that the infection period is closer to 10 to 12 days, Whitaker noted “I’m going to have to sit and consider the week of the 11th may need to be remote as well,” he said

“It depends on cases showing up in the next couple weeks,” he said. “So far, this has been a combination of good planning and great protocols being followed, thanks to the staff, parents and kids and luck to have avoided significant COVID cases. This week has been an anomaly and while it has me concerned, it doesn’t have me panicked. We’re just keeping an eye on that.”

Meanwhile, discernment regarding the high school’s mascot, the subject of widely circulated petitions and counter-petitions over the summer, remain ongoing. Two weeks ago, the coalition noted in a Facebook post that a mural of a Native American on walls of McElrath Gymnasium had been painted over.

Whitaker explained, however, that the district’s imagery struck him when he first visited the area in the midst of his hiring process.

“I came out here three or four times, once before I applied, to get to know the city and the school district,” he said. “One of the first things I noticed was the imagery. It was confusing to me — there was a green ‘J,’ a red ‘J,’ a ‘J’ with a feather and a Native American cartoon-thing. I didn’t know what the imagery of the district was supposed to be and it struck me in that we needed to work on that and work on what the image needs to be.”

The petition and ongoing coverage of it was “a perfect door,” noting the formation of a committee in July made up of coaches, students and community members to examine a potential change.

“The most important voices missing from that conversation was the Seneca Nation,” he said. “I reached out. Early on, they were reluctant. I think they’ve had experience with people reaching out and either not understanding or not being committed to the work. It took some convincing … Once they recognized that we were genuine in getting feedback and thoughts, they opened up and they’ve been willing to help us.”

Whitaker explained that the committee “started a journey that some of those folks thought was ‘Let’s hurry up and get to this answer so that we can check the box and get going. What it’s turned into has been a learning experience. The objective is not to make any decisions until we learn about the culture of the people and learn about making personal opinion statements that involve other people’s culture and heritage without having that knowledge and what message that sends.”

He explained that the nation has offered training opportunities for the district, including guided tours of the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum.

“What I told the group to do is write down what their current beliefs are around the imagery, the mascot and nickname and we’ll go to this experience and come back and review what our views are about this thing and how that has changed,” he said.

Still, he noted that there are “practical” and “financial” issues that remain a short-term sticking point.

“The practical one is that we’ve got vendors in the spring that ordered a whole bunch of stock in shirts and hats and jackets and whatever else,” he said. “Major providers have agreed to switch those for the next round of purchases without the feathers and the cartoonish imagery.”

“The financial part is we went around and tried to take stock of where this stuff was,” he added. “One of the issues is it being so ubiquitous is because people walk by and don’t even see it. … and there are big expenses associated with some of the themes.”

He added, “Some of the things while in consensus discussions folks have agreed to address that are going to take some time given the financial situation that we’re in.”