Contrary to what numerous teachers and students in the PV community have believed, the Indian head logo is not going anywhere according to district and Board of Education officials.

Last year the Pascack Valley District’s superintendent, Erik Gundersen, announced that the BOE is going to “gradually change the emphasis from the Indian head logo to the PV block letters.”

However, Gundersen has revealed that PV will not be phasing out the Indian head logo.

Gundersen stated that he is not sure if this decision was articulated at any staff meetings throughout the two schools.

“If teachers read the board minutes and some of the articles that were in The Bergen Record, they would’ve known that the Board has taken no action in eliminating any mascot or logo from the district,” Gundersen said.

Both logos of PV, the Indian head and the PV block letters, will remain with no changes to their designs, according to Gundersen.

“My intent last summer was to phase out the Indian head, but the Board of Education made it quite clear that they are not looking to phase out the Indian head,” Gundersen said.

However, the Indian head has been taken off the official PV letterhead, which teachers use for things like sending student recommendation letters to colleges. The PV block letters are now on the letterhead instead.

“There are certainly people who can conclude that [the Indian head] is an outmoded symbol and it can be considered offensive,” Mr. Jeffrey Steinfeld, president of the Board of Education, said.

According to Steinfeld, this is why Gundersen made the decision to de-emphasize the logo in official places like the letterhead.

Mrs. Diana McKenna, adviser of the Human Rights League, felt that if the Indian logo “in any way sheds negative light on the district, then why is it not okay for a letterhead, but okay for a t-shirt?”

Steinfeld explained that the Board of Education is “not crazy about the symbol,” but they are “not looking to eliminate it.”

“And we’re certainly not looking for Pascack Valley to change being the Indians,” Steinfeld added.

McKenna felt that, while she disagrees with the logo and mascot, the administration should stay consistent.

“It’s being hypocritical. If you’re going to stand by it, you have to stand by it…. If you can’t put your full backing behind it, and put [the logo] on everything, then that’s speaking volumes,” McKenna said.