COPLEY, Ohio — For the past several months, we’ve heard many calls for change, from the way police operate to the names we call our sports teams, including our city’s baseball team.
Twenty five miles away from Progressive Field comes a call for Copley-Fairlawn High School to stop using the 'Indians' name for its teams.
But as 3News investigator Rachel Polansky reports, there’s more, including a demand to remove police and an apology they’re not likely to get.
Call For Action:
It was weeks after the George Floyd marches dominated American streets when a group of former classmates got together.
"We didn’t have a voice necessarily when we were in high school and felt like we didn’t know how to change things in our community," said Tanmay Shah, a Copley graduate, who is now studying in law school.
"Our biggest thing is trying to allow people to understand where we are coming from," said Isabel Rogriguez, a former Copley student who just graduated in 2020.
The school is Copley High School, home of the Indians. And home, to a diverse student body where one in four is a minority.
"We’ve been seeing what’s going on around the country and we want to make the push for racial justice in our community also," said Shah.
So they created a group called Copley-Fairlawn For All, and they marched from Copley Circle to Copley High on Saturday, July 25th.
They didn’t come empty handed.
"For this is to be a sustainable movement, we had to do something that was more structured than just a march," said Shah.
They came with a list of demands for Copley-Fairlawn City Schools that includes:
-Black history and Anti-racism: Better incorporate Black history and Anti-racism into the curriculum
"Make it more Anti-racist at its core. We feel a lot of the education we receive misses a lot of the important parts of Black history that is intertwined with American history," said Jaren McKinnie, a Copley graduate and current college student.
-Educator Diversity: Hire more black teachers and teachers of color
-Police in Schools: Eliminate school resource officers in schools
-Retiring the Mascot: Get rid of the "Indians" team name
"It really over generalizes all of the different tribes and it doesn't accurate portray their culture," said McKinnie.
-Kelley Williams-Bolar: Apologize to Kelley Williams-Bolar, paying back her fine, and changing the BOE policy to ensure the same injustice is not inflicted upon other families.
"We want those decisions to be driven by logic and data rather than tradition," said Shah. "What we want is a seat at the table for the current students and alumni."
Copley-Fairlawn For All sent their list of demands to the school and its board members on July 30th. They have yet to receive a response.
Superintendent Responds:
Superintendent Brian Poe said the district supports the diversity proposals, and that work is ongoing.
"Three of their issues are absolutely spot on," said Poe.
Poe said student diversity attracts many to the district, which also serves Bath and Fairlawn, as well as Copley.
"I think they need to be reviewed and discussed and it's something that we do regardless so I don't want to make it look as if we've had our head in the sand on those issues," said Poe.
But when it comes to school resource officers, Poe believes most parents and students support officers in the building.
"I struggle with removing police officers from the schools," said Poe. "Our first responders need to be in our buildings making sure we’re being protected and they keep a terrific eye on things."
The group's last demand: an apology to Kelley Williams-Bolar, an Akron parent who was jailed for 10 days in 2011 for illegally enrolling her daughters at Copley.
It was a case that got renewed national attention last year, in light of the sentences handed down to Hollywood parents who bribed college officials to help their children.
The district is not inclined to agree to this demand.
"Yes, we understand it’s unlikely we get all 5 of these demands by next year. Some will take years. But, we want to see action on it now," said Shah.