The board of education charted a course straight down the middle of the road in regard to the school's use of the team name Redskins and the Indian Hunter logo.

"We decline either to order the discontinuation of the Reskins name and Indian Hunter logo or to endorse that name and logo," stated a response penned by the board's public relations committee and adopted by the board earlier this month.

Since August, the public relations committee has been reviewing a report received from an ad hoc committee formed by the board of education to review the use of the team name, logo and mascot.

The committee was formed in response to a letter from the state commissioner of education, Richard Mills, who asked that schools stop using Native American nicknames, symbols and mascots.

Terry Bliss chaired the ad hoc committee and in March said that community support is overwhelmingly on the side of maintaining the Redskins tradition and the group planned to recommend the continued use of the name.

But in August when the report went to the board of education, the committee had softened its stance and Bliss opted not to make a firm recommendation. The committee was not charged with making a recommendation, which is why they didn't do so, he said.

"There appears to be little incentive to change the name at this time," Bliss said. "Since it seems to be not much of an issue, we don't see the merit in making it one."

The board, in its response to the committee's report, said that there are two policies in place which it believes address the issue.

One forbids dicrimination and harrassment on racial and ethnic grounds and the other promotes the use of shared decision making throughout the district.

While not taking a firm stance on the Redskins name, the board does advocate continued discussion of the subject if anyone cares to.

"We would therefore encourage continued conversation at the appropriate levels and with the appropriate organizations regarding team name and logo," the statement said.

District superintendent Mary Jo McPhail said she was not certain exactly what the board of education's public relations committee had in mind for appropriate levels and organizations.

There was no specific discussion by the board about the levels and organizations and McPhail said she would not want to speak for the committee.

The board, as always, is interested in hearing from groups and individuals about anything that pertains to the distrct, McPhail said. It is not the board's intention to create a formal approach to the issue, but to keep it more informal.

The board, she said has already put all the formal structures in place to address the issue as requested by the education commissioner.

In its review of the team name and logo, the board was stymied to some extent, by the lack of a clear message from the community, McPhail said.

The statement from the committee indicates the board's belief that its role is limited to primarily establishing policy and proposing a budget.

The matter of a team name or mascot is one of tradition they assert and "it is not the purview of the board of education to dicate tradition."

If conversation about the use of Redskins continues, the board suggests that it include the nature of traditions, awareness of the reason for and against the use of the term Redskins and a teaching of tolerance.