The Gill-Montague Regional School District has released rules for the upcoming open forums on the possible change of the Turners Falls High School mascot, currently the “Indians.”
According to a post on the school district’s Facebook page, the forums will have six rules and people will be asked to sign up for time slots to speak up until 30 minutes ahead of the meeting.
The post said there will be three signup lists: one for keeping the mascot, one for changing it, and one that is neutral.
Those who wants to speak will have to print their name on the list and also announce their name and place of residence. All speakers will be limited to three minutes.
The speakers will be called in the order they signed up, alternating between viewpoints.
The post asks speakers to refrain from “personal judgments or accusations, speaking more about their opinions on these issues than about their opinions of other speakers opinions.”
Those who do not follow the rules, will be asked to stop speaking, according to the post.
There will be no questions from audience members or the School Committee, according to the post, and no one will be allowed to participate remotely or include photos, documents, video or audio in their presentations. The school committee said they will accept those submissions in person or through electronic submission.
“All citizens in attendance are expected to act with civility and in a spirit of inquiry and active listening,” the post said. “We are all reminded that these forums center around the life of a school community, whose mission is continued growth and learning.”
The forums are scheduled for Oct. 25 and Nov. 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. and from 5 to 7 p.m., respectively. Both are at the Turners Falls High School Theater.