During its regular meeting on Thursday, Aug. 8, the Board of Education adopted the new branding elements associated with the Tigers mascot. The elements will be implemented in the coming days and weeks and throughout the school year.
Additionally, on Monday, June 17, David Frank, Assistant Commissioner of Education Policy and Chief of Staff to Commissioner Rosa, along with Cambridge Central School District Board of Education President, Shay Price, BOE member Dillon Honyoust and resident Duane Honyoust joined Cambridge Interim Superintendent of Schools Ken Facin for a reconciliation meeting.
“Cambridge is a very unique community and the community has tremendous respect, honor and appreciation for the Native American culture in our region,” said Dillon Honyoust, Board member. “It was important that NYSED agreed to meet and listen to better understand our local history of indigenous culture and the deep roots that will live on in the Cambridge community forever.”
The meeting was convened to bring the school district and NYS Education Department together for a conversation about the school’s original mascot issue, litigation and subsequent statewide indigenous mascot ban. The conversations and dialogue provided a venue for Cambridge officials to discuss the events that took place and convey how they felt throughout the process.
“This was a great opportunity to convey strong Board and community sentiment that Cambridge was not fairly represented by the state in this process,” said Shay Price, Board President. “It was encouraging to hear from Mr. Frank how the state could have handled the process differently. I appreciate Mr. Frank taking the time to visit us and hear our concerns.”
“The reconciliation meeting was a great opportunity for us to sit down and speak with a representative from the state,” said Ken Facin, interim superintendent of schools. “The conversation was open and honest and provided us with an opportunity to share our thoughts about the mascot process. We thank David for visiting Cambridge and speaking with us and we look forward to implementing a robust Native American curriculum for our students.”