Eastern Idaho’s Teton High School will remain the Redskins, for now.
After an emotional and one-sided public hearing this week, Superintendent Monte Woolstenhulme said he will put the name change on hold, to allow the public to have more of a say on the idea.
Woolstenhulme moved to change the school nickname last month, but backed off and agreed to hold a public hearing.
That hearing was held Monday. Over more than 3 ½ hours, the School Board heard from 67 people; 62 supported keeping the nickname. (Here’s more coverage from the hearing, from the Teton Valley News.)
Members of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes support dropping the Redskins nickname, according to the Teton Valley News. But the idea has drawn community backlash, as illustrated by an online petition posted at change.org.
“Personal agendas inflicted by one person upon an entire school district and all of its thousands of alumni is not ethical or appropriate. … This is NOT Monte Woolstenhulme’s personal kingdom that he can rule and reign with his hypersensitive, self-imagined whims.”
Teton’s controversy has a national parallel: critics, including several members of Congress have urged the NFL’s Washington Redskins to change its nickname. Team owner Daniel Snyder and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell have opposed a change.
