AGAWAM — Agawam city councilors want the School Committee to know they support its authority over school traditions. The council voted on Oct. 19 to pass a resolution after residents complained to various councilors in recent months about changes to team uniforms.
School Committee policy AB-1 states that any changes to school “rituals and traditions,” including team colors, logos, mascots and names, must be approved by the School Committee. While the resolution spells out support for policy, several councilors and residents used the opportunity to speak in favor of maintaining the the traditions in the schools.
During the public comment period, Tom Giofriddo said, “Our local traditions should be protected by the elected leaders and the School Committee.” He also said the Native American employed in the Agawam High School logo is “a symbol of respect, not division.” Similarly, Denis Doroshenko said the high school’s colors and logo “represent the very identity and history for generations of students, alumni and families.”
Meanwhile, Brian Backus said, “By not adhering to the policy, decisions of deep cultural meaning could be made quickly, under pressure by individuals with no accountability to the Agawam community.”
City Councilor George Bitzas said he was in strong support of the resolution. Communities across the country have seen people want to change certain sports team names. He said the council passed a resolution in 2020 supporting the continued use of the team’s name Brownies.
“This is about preserving tradition. It’s also about making sure that we follow policy,” said City Councilor Ed Borgatti. He added that school traditions are “extremely important to those of us who have been here our whole life.”
City Councilor Robert Rossi also spoke in favor of teams continuing to use the same colors and logos. He said the team is named Brownies because their uniforms were brown. Maintaining the name and colors remembers past teams and players, he said. Echoing Gionfriddo’s comments, Rossi said, “Agawam was named after an Indian tribe.” He felt that school decisions should be made by the School Committee and “not some booster club starts trouble and starts trying to change things without going through the proper procedure.” City Council President Anthony Russo clarified that no booster clubs had tried to change team traditions.
City Councilor Christine Rickmon said she did not feel the matter was under the City Council’s purview. When City Councilor Peter McNair asked for clarification on if the issue was legislative in nature, Russo said the School Committee has the authority over such matters, and the resolution was intended to support that. While he was in favor of the colors and logos used in the past, he said the resolution was “just about following the policy.”
The council voted 10 in favor of the resolution, with Rickmon voting present.
The council passed a separate resolution unanimously. It asked the state Legislature to adjust the formula for Chapter 90 roadway aid. Russo said other communities have passed similar resolutions. While the Legislature did recently change the way Chapter 90 is calculated, he said, “I have an issue though, with their formula … A big part of it goes to the MBTA.” The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority runs the subways in the greater metro Boston area. “Personally, I’m a little tired of all the money staying in Boston. It should be divided equally.”
Rossi suggested Agawam accept more streets as public ways, which would increase the amount of state aid it receives. Russo responded that, as council president, he can create a three-person committee to work with the DPW superintendent to physically review the streets and determine if they are up to code. He selected Councilor Dino Mercadante as chair of the committee but had not yet chosen the other two committee members.
“Our voices represent the 29,000 people of Agawam. We’re speaking for those people,” Bitzas said. City Councilor Cecilia Calabrese suggested the council send the resolution to the Massachusetts Municipal Association, encouraging more municipalities to sign on to it.
