Florence loses Wildcat mascot at middle school
Staff writer
Deciding that past promises shouldn’t drive the school district in moving forward, school board members cast a split vote Monday that Warriors will be the district-wide mascot.
The question of whether to leave the middle school mascot as Wildcats and the high school and elementary mascot as Warriors has been bandied around since December.
Community members, parents, students, staff members, and former residents of both Florence and Marion have voiced opinions in polls, at school board meetings, and in letters to the editor.
Opinions were divided, some strongly so.
Board members voted 6 – 1 Monday, with Mitch Guetterman opposed to make the middle school mascot Wildcats, which had been the name of Florence teams before consolidation in 1969.
High school students came to Marion in 1971. Middle school students attended in Florence until 1998.
Even after the middle school moved to Marion, Wildcats remained its mascot to honor the legacy of the former Florence school district.
During Monday’s discussion, board member Justin Dameron said he knew the issue was complex and that people from Florence were opposed to a mascot change.
“Past promises cannot be the full driver,” Dameron said. “Our students cannot be Marion students or Florence students.”
Dameron said he’d talked with many people and thought the district needed to find ways to move forward without forgetting the past.
Superintendent Justin Wasmuth asked audience member Melissa Bowman, a parent and Marion resident who grew up in Florence, what she thought of the matter.
Bowman said question came down to how to still honor the Florence legacy.
“She had done a really fantastic job of speaking about keeping Wildcats as middle school mascot,” Wasmuth said.
After board members voted, Bowman said that it was “a hard decision” and that she appreciated the board taking the time to debate and study the issue.