The Knox County Schools recognizes the need to express school spirit through selection of a mascot, team name, colors, and other school identifiers such as yearbooks, annuals, names of newspapers and other publications, names for activities and events, school songs, and slogans. The following provides for these activities:  

1. Selecting a mascot, team names, and school colors as well as other school identifiers shall be respectful of diverse cultural values, but also be cognizant of context and honor the past and not be based solely on political pressure and/or current events. The main goal is to reflect a positive school image. Emphasis should also be placed on selecting names related to landmarks or places that have historic or geographic significance to the particular Knox County community’s history and the site. Proposed names should avoid duplicating names of other schools in the region to prevent possible confusion with those schools.
2. The school mascot, team names, school colors, and other school identifiers must be unique and cannot be a duplication, without proper written permission/licensure, of a professional, corporate, international, national, or local mascot, name, and colors, nor other copyrighted identifiers. 
3. A school mascot is defined as a symbol, character, name, or logo that should represent a school in a positive manner with an emphasis on expression of school unity and pride as well as the emphasis and goals expressed in section A.  Team names, logos, school colors and other school identifiers shall be selected on the basis of a positive reflection of the school.
4. Mascots, team names, logos and school colors for existing schools have already been established and copyrighted by Knox County Schools. 
5. 1. New School: Responsibility for the initial selection of the school mascot, team names, school colors, and other school identifiers will be recommended to the direct supervisor of the principal of that school by a committee comprised of the principal, teachers, staff, students, PTA/PTO (if formed), parents, historical society, civic associations, and KCS administration (stakeholders). 
   2. Final approval of the school mascot, team names, school colors, and other school identifier selections and/or changes will be the responsibility of the Superintendent and direct supervisor of the principal of the particular school.  Said approved selections will then be considered by the Knox County Board of Education’s Naming Committee and the Committee will then present recommendations to the Board for ratification. 
6. Existing School: A challenge to the selection of, or proposed changes to, an existing school mascot, team names, school colors, and other school identifier selections, as described above, by a member or members of the staff, student body, parents, alumni, PTA/PTO, historical society and/or civic associations (stakeholders) shall be made in writing to the principal of the school or the direct supervisor of that principal. A challenge shall state the objections to the current mascot/names/colors and indicate how the identifier does not align with the principles in this procedure and Board Policy. Historical or other evidence is to be submitted with the challenge.  A challenge which fails to meet the above criterial may be dismissed by the Superintendent and/or the district principal supervisor. 
   1. A challenge with written support of 25 percent (25%) of a school’s student population and 100 school alumni shall be referred to district principal supervisors to schedule two or more public meetings, with notice of at least thirty (30) days to all stakeholders as outlined in section F. Such meetings shall be an open discussion on the merits and detractions of the proposed challenge and shall be recorded and minutes taken.  
   2. A survey shall be prepared by KCS administration and to the best extent possible, sent to all stakeholders of the school affected with a minimum of two weeks to respond.
   3. The district principal supervisor will then review the challenge, and the substance of the public meetings, with the Superintendent and make a recommendation with reasons therefore to the Board of Education’s Naming Committee. All Naming Committee procedures and process shall be followed. 
   4. The Naming Committee will review and make a recommendation or pass along to the full Board of Education. 
   5. The Board of Education will be provided all information gathered on the challenge through this process and then render a final decision through a vote on an action item. 

The foregoing process shall not be expedited and while there is no specific time requirement, the process is expected to take six months or more to complete.  Should the challenge to an existing school’s identifiers result in a change, new identifier submissions shall be made according to section E. Should the challenge to an existing school’s identifiers not result in a change, a new challenge may not be brought for five (5) years following the Board of Education’s decision.