The Wasatch County School Board on Dec. 17 named the new Wasatch County high school Iron Horse High School in an unplanned vote. Now, perturbed parents are calling for a revote with an online petition. There were 569 signatures on the petition as of Friday morning. Lynne Allred, parent to two kids who will eventually attend Iron Horse High School, started the petition on Dec. 19. She said the decision does not reflect what the community was aiming for. “The way they went about it just feels like it wasn’t representing the taxpayers, the public, people whose kids are going to be going to that school,” Allred said. “They put out all this information and then, in the end, they chose something completely off board and something I feel like is hard to visually represent and hard to get behind.”Along with naming the school Iron Horse High School, the Wasatch County School Board chose “Thunder” as the mascot. Helen Price, vice president of VIP branding, presented three options to the board: Iron Horse High School, Deer Creek High School, and North Fields High School. Price recommended Iron Horse High School above the other possibilities and said that, because there are only two of 131,000 schools in the country named Iron Horse High School, it would be a unique choice. With “Thunder” as the mascot, Price said, the pairing of the mascot and school name would “command attention.”“You only have the one time to start a new school; you want to do it right,” Price said. Both Price and School Board President Tyler Bluth said that, since the architecture of the school resembles a train station, the name Iron Horse High School would fit best. “This aligns with the theme of what we’ve done with this high school,” Bluth said. “We’ve built a $160 million train station. We have to honor that. Everything else is contradictory to that.”Wasatch County Board Member Marianne Allen questioned why Bluth would push for a decision on the Iron Horse High School name at a work session where votes did not usually occur. Allen further disagreed with Justin Kelly’s claim that the majority of community members he talked with preferred the name Iron Horse High School. Kelly was named principal of the new school that same night. “You say that 90 percent of people like Iron Horse, but yet when we polled the community it’s not the No. 1, it’s No. 3. Deer Creek High is No. 1, so why would we move away from that?” Allen said. “Here we are with no heads up. I’m OK with wrapping it up in the next two weeks.” Allred, who watched the recorded board meeting, said that she felt the decision was rushed.“It was just what a couple of people wanted,” Allred said. “It was supposed to be a study meeting, not a voting meeting … I want a revote that’s actually planned.”In the petition, Allred wrote that “by demanding a revote, we are not undermining any administrative decision but are advocating for broader representation and participation within our community.” Along with being against how the decision came about, Allred said that the name is ultimately not what she or her kids were excited about. According to Allred, neither of her children who would attend the school — one eighth-grade student and a senior — are a fan of the name or mascot. “No kid wants to be a locomotive,” Allred said. “What happens when you bring a new high school into the valley — that’s a big change that can cause either a lot of division or a lot of union, depending on how you do it. If you have a high school that people aren’t proud to go to, it’s going to cause a lot of division.”Another parent, Sarah Severson, signed the petition. Severson has two kids who will attend Iron Horse High School. Ahead of the meeting, Severson said that she believed Deer Creek High School was the preferred choice based on community surveys. Severson sent a letter detailing her concerns to the school board after seeing the results of the work session. “I would say that for the majority of us, our biggest concern is the process in this rushed selection of the school name and mascot,” Severson said. “I think that the community deserves to have a meaningful voice in shaping the school’s new identity.”In her letter, Severson said she urged the school board to reconsider their decision and reopen the discussion on the high school’s name and mascot. She also requested that the board release the results of the community survey, which has since been taken down from the school board’s website. “I believe that prioritizing transparency and community involvement through a well-defined, well-communicated process will foster a stronger sense of ownership and pride in the new school,” Severson said. “I thought Deer Creek was a great name. I had no problems with it. But, honestly, the biggest problem I have and the reason I signed the petition is my concern with the process leading to this election.”At the Dec. 17 meeting, Bluth made it clear that a decision needed to be made. Both he and Paul Sweat, Wasatch County School District superintendent, said they were fans of Price’s presentation. Bluth said that he felt the name promoted unity. Price suggested slogans like “iron sharpens iron” and “full steam ahead,” which she said signify collaboration and “pushing forward with resolve.” The decision came to a head with support from board member Kim Dickerson.“We haven’t really come to anything else, and if this is what they’re passionate about, then I’ll support it,” Dickerson said. “I think it’s important at this point moving forward that we really get behind it, be proud of it and celebrate it — and get our kids behind it and be proud of it and move on.” The post Wasatch County parents pan name of new high school in bid to try again appeared first on Park Record.