South Burlington residents who want a public vote on the Rebels name change won a round in court this week.
Vermont Superior Court Judge Robert Mello cleared the way for a lawsuit on the question to go to trial, and he denied the school district’s motion to dismiss the case. Members of a group called the Rebel Alliance raised funds for the lawsuit.
The 19-page ruling, issued Tuesday, generally supported the residents’ argument that the school board violated the Vermont constitution by refusing to put the name question on the ballot after at least 5 percent of city voters signed a petition calling for a public vote.
The ruling suggested that the school board could be ordered to put the question on the ballot.
“If the facts relied upon by the Plaintiffs turn out to be true, then Plaintiffs would be entitled to an order in the nature of a writ of mandamus compelling the South Burlington School District to put Plaintiff’s ballot question to a vote by the electorate,” Mello wrote. “The District’s duty to put Plaintiff’s ballot question to such a vote is imposed by the Constitution and is certain, clear, and non-discretionary. “
The school board voted in February to change the name after critics said it had racist overtones involving the Confederacy. Defenders of the nickname said it was a harmless tradition that dated back to South Burlington’s rivalry with Burlington, slightly to the north, and had nothing to do with the Civil War. Whatever the origin, at times in the school’s history students waved Confederate flags and played “Dixie” at football games.
A few months after the vote to drop the name, the school district adopted a new mascot, the Wolves. Student athletes have been playing under that name since September.
The ballot question would be advisory. It asks if all South Burlington sports teams should be known as the South Burlington Rebels and if the school board should be required to retain the name. However, even if the majority of voters say yes, the school board would not be legally obligated to obey, district lawyers argue.
District attorney Pietro Lynn had argued that since the question is advisory, the argument to put it on the ballot is weak. He also cited case law in which the courts upheld the city’s right to reject an abortion-related ballot petition years ago on the grounds that elected city officials had no jurisdiction over the question.
But Mello wrote that the abortion case was not parallel, and that the Rebels question directly relates to the school board’s responsibilities. Read the full decision here:
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For those that think this is all about the name “Rebel”, you are sorely mistaken. This has gone far beyond the changing of a mascot name. What happened in South Burlington was corruption, abuse of power, violation of open meeting laws, and flat out lies told by the administration to the public in front of the school board. (in a public meeting no less). This lawsuit is about the rights of the citizens of South Burlington to have a say in how their tax dollars are spent. The citizens of SB followed every letter of the law when they gathered the names for the petition, and the petition was certified as valid by the City Clerk. The law states that it should have been put to a vote and the School Board decided they are above the law and said “No thank you”, because they were afraid of the outcome of that vote. This lawsuit is about holding the School Board and the administration accountable for their actions and to remind them that they work FOR the citizens of South Burlington, not against them. I hope this lawsuit goes to trial and let it be a warning for others in this state, don’t bite the hand the feeds you!
SB residents constitutional rights have been violated. The SB school board while elected acted in an underhanded manner to push this issue after more than a year of stating something completely opposite. For anyone who has followed this; the timeline of events at the SB school board since the name change announcement was made after the deadline to submit petition to run for school board. This goes beyond retention of a name. There is legitimate corruption and deception. Look at how the library move was handled.
A short look through the Internet to see what people of color think about names like “rebel” makes it clear that it is associated with oppression, slavery, and white supremecy. Get rid of it.
Hey Nate Awrich, pro-tip: Vermont’s constitution doesn’t allow for the legislative body to preclude citizens from petitioning and instructing their representatives. Here’s the cliff notes version. Read it and then go re-read the judge’s decision.
Article 20. [Right to assemble, instruct and petition]
That the people have a right to assemble together to consult for their common good–to instruct their Representatives–and to apply to the Legislature for redress of grievances, by address, petition or remonstrance.
Hey GreenMtnBoy – protip: the school board is elected.
Proud of these Rebels and the Rebel Alliance for standing up for South Burlington voters. Regardless of what you think of the Rebel name, the School Board had absolutely no right to attempt to silence the electorate by refusing to allow them to vote on this issue. The judge made it quite clear that this would be a violation of Vermont’s constitution.
If you think that your cause is so righteous that it outweighs the people’s democratic rights to decide what is best for their community, then you should consider living in Venezuela rather than the U.S.
Go Rebels! Too many living in Vermont are out of control with their sanctimonious, over-sensitive PC blathering and yammering. Here is the crux of the matter for me, and why I hope the court does the right thing and orders the school board to put the question on the ballot: “The 19-page ruling, issued Tuesday, generally supported the residents’ argument that the school board violated the Vermont constitution by refusing to put the name question on the ballot after at least 5 percent of city voters signed a petition calling for a public vote.”
Dempsey – what makes you say the name came from the 1800s, when the name was apparently chosen in the 60s and there is photo evidence of people dressing up as Confed soldiers and waiving the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia? In a Free Press article on the topic, they wrote “In 1961, student Cathryn Towne told the Burlington Free Press that the Rebel was picked over Titans, Rams, Blue Lancers and Blue Panthers because the town was south of Burlington, the school colors were blue and gray and the school opened during the Civil War centennial year.”
That makes clear that the association was always with the ‘rebels’ of the US Civil War, who fought to preserve slavery.
lI agree kawksw. Seven Days has this story as the number 1 story of the day. In the 1800s South Burlington was incorporated after its citizens rebelled against Burlingtons authority. That is where the name came from. End of story. I am happy to say that I don’t live in Burlington. I did go to UVM, but I commuted. My kids went to Randolph Union High School, home of the Galloping Ghosts. They say that there is a movement among the local paranormal investigators to get rid of the name because the word galloping is demeaning to the spirits of dead people, aka ghosts, because it implies that they were animals when they were alive.
Where did Frank Bryan write about the Rebels name? As a Starksboro resident, the Rebels name probably isn’t that relevant to him, but it seems a little out of character for him otherwise.