15 August 2023
MERIDEN, KS (KSNT) – Controversy over a rebrand for Jefferson West Unified School District in Meriden sparks outrage at a school board meeting Monday night.
The controversy stems from a rebrand. The rebrand is part of a two to three-year marketing campaign for the district that includes more than just changing the school’s logo and is only part of phase one. It is on a two-year retainer paid 1,950 dollars a month and financed by Mammoth.
The controversy lies upon transparency. Parents of children in the district say that the school board didn’t tell anyone about this and that they found out through a leak on Facebook. Although the board president tells 27 News that’s not necessarily the case.
“There have been three different open sessions in our regularly scheduled meetings which this has been talked about,” School board president David Jensen said. “The branding and design were shared in one of those meetings. No, we did not send out anything to the public for their opinion on it. Many were included in pieces of this.”
“I’m passionate about transparency for our board to let us know when things are being spent,” Meriden resident Dawn Chase said. “This was listed on the agenda as a communications item, not a rebranding. Had it been stated as such, probably more people would have come and would of been more informed, but it was a communications agenda. Upon looking further after the leak on Facebook when we saw the product, that’s when a lot of people started asking questions.”
It was stated in the meeting that Jefferson West has never had an official mascot as the design for the “tiger” has been changed five different times. Jensen tells 27 News that everyone who spoke tonight, their opinion will be valued, taken into consideration and that the board will learn from this.