Hays High School Students To Select New Mascot

Staff Reports

Hays High School students will select the new school mascot when they return in January.

According to district officials, the new Mascot selection is slated for either on or before February 1, 2021, to allow the district to plan for all potential spending costs.  

Students will make the decision between Jan. 4 and Feb. 1 to allow the district time to order new uniforms for the band and athletic students as well as replace the logos around the school.

The board of trustees voted in July to retire the Rebel Mascot due to the political controversy around it.

“When a mascot mires the school in political controversy and pits students, families, and community members against each other,” the district said. “It is time to change.”

The district planned to phase out the rebel over the course of the 2020-2021 school year.

The district decided to phase in the mascot’s retirement as the changing of mascots mid-year and mid-season for competitive teams and clubs may prove too disruptive.  

The Rebels’ retirement was the latest effort by district officials to separate the school from controversial symbols and ideas.

Hays CISD banned the official use of the confederate flag at the campus in 2000.

In 2012, the district banned the display of the flag on all district property, ending its unofficial association with the campus. And in 2015, the district retired Dixie as the Hays High School fight song.