WFISD board to let students pick mascots

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The naming of the mascots for two new Wichita Falls ISD high schools took a step forward during the district’s board meeting on Tuesday.

Now deciding on the mascot of Legacy and Memorial High Schools will be put back in the hands of the kids who will attend the new schools.

There will be three mascot options for Legacy High School and two options for Memorial High School, which were all submitted from a previous naming committee on Dec. 7.

School board members said they felt this was the best way to be fair to all sides of the argument and ultimately leave it to those that will be impacted the most.

“Young people care more than you think about what the board is taking away from us. You picked out the names of Legacy and Memorial, we should be the ones to pick the mascots and colors,” a WFISD student said.

Students in the ninth through second grade will be receiving ballots during school hours to decide if they will be the Legacy High School Leopards, Lions, or Falcons and if Memorial High School will be the Mavericks or the Titans.

“We’ll be sending out ballots to students to vote on the mascots and then colors of these two new high schools,” WFISD Superintendent Michael Khurt said.

On Feb. 15, the board of trustees discussed the possibility of forming a new committee due to a Save the Names petition that was started by Wichita Falls High School alumni.

For Wichita Falls High School alumni, that attended the meeting some were upset that the current three WFISD schools -- Rider, Hirschi, and Wichita Falls High Schools -- names and mascots were no longer being considered.

“You’ve killed the legacy of Wichita Falls High School. Okay, it’s gone! I live in the past because I’m an old man and I am shocked at how dysfunctional this board is,” Mike Kelly, a Wichita Falls High School alumni, said.

After weeks of the topic being a hot button issue during 10 separate board meetings, members are finally ready to move on to new issues.

“I want to applaud our board for all their efforts. It is a hard job, they are the seven best volunteers we have in the district and they dedicate their time and effort to this,” Khurt said.