Plano ISD board of trustees is considering rebranding its 9-10 grade campuses. The board believes the rebranding would increase school spirit and cohesiveness.
During the Feb. 7 board of trustees meeting, Plano ISD Athletic Director Jeff Smith presented survey results that showed the community’s support to rebrand the district’s campuses to align with its senior highs.
According to the Plano Star Courier, Plano’s six 9-10 grade school campuses have their own mascots and school colors, but the community feedback shows that the events become disorderly with a lack of consistency.
Currently, the district has 3,958 students in middle school athletics, 2,677 in high school athletics, and 8,369 in fine arts. Students in the 9-10 grade are included in these numbers. Community members also brought up a desire for additional sporting opportunities, possibly combining 9-10 junior varsity teams and converting campuses to 9-12 campuses.
Responses included implementing more sports for middle school students, including soccer, tennis and wrestling, and lacrosse, water polo and ice hockey for high school students. According to Williams, tennis was previously offered but was cut from the program.
Superintendent Theresa Williams and several board members said that consolidating students into 9-12 campuses would cost a huge amount of money and would take unnecessary paperwork when registering for competitions.
“You’re talking about a huge disruption of history,” one board member said. “I don’t know if that would be in the best interest.”
Smith explained that a three-year plan would be put in place during the 2023-24 school year to change the schools’ names and mascots, as well as get new uniforms for events and finish redesigns and renovations for the schools' facilities.
The final phase, which would take place during the 2025-26 year would consist of final gym remodeling and creating new communications.
The board does not vote on the item, but instead gave its opinions on the matter. The decision will ultimately be left to Plano ISD administration.