By Dave Dyer

Staff Writer

The Scarborough High School mascot will remain the Red Storm, at least for now.

Scarborough voters rejected the special referendum question by a vote total of 5,096 in favor of the name change to 5,398 who opposed. 

The question asked voters if they favored the changing of the mascot’s name from Red Storm to a different name.

Scarborough School Board member Brian Dell’Olio, who graduated from Scarborough in 2001 with the first class to have the Red Storm name, said he was torn on the issue.

“I was really mixed about it because I have experienced both the Redskins and Red Storm names, he said. “It really comes down what the voters thought about it. I’m glad they had their say because I would want the citizen’s opinion on the issue.”

Scarborough High School Principal Patricia Conant said she is glad the issue is over.

“In all honesty, I didn’t have a preference,” she said. “Students have had the Red Storm name for eight years now and I think if you take that away it would really be like the former students having Redskins taken from them.”

Conant said from a fiscal aspect, she’s happy the name change was voted down.

“We won’t have to spend money on changing uniforms or signs,” she said.

Conant said students at Scarborough High School didn’t really seem to be interested in the possibility of a name change.

“I did not see them engaged in the issue at all,” she said.

Scarborough School Board member Annalee Rosenblatt said she doesn’t like the current Red Storm name.

“I think it’s sad that current students wiped out history and changed the name of the high school,” she said. “I just realized this recently. Perhaps former students should have had their say, too.”  

Bruce Bell, one of the Scarborough residents who started the initiative to have the name changed, was not available for comment at press time Wednesday.

Conant said if there are still residents who favor the name change, they should bring the matter to the school board. 

“The most appropriate way to go about the matter would be to talk to the school board,” Conant said. “I really feel the school board has bigger fish to fry than whether or not we should have the mascot name changed.”

Dell’Olio said the school board has final say on the name change.

“If they came to us about the name change, we would look at the pros and cons and have an open discussion about it, we haven’t had that yet. They could also go back to the town council and have the question on the ballot in a reworded way to make it look more positive, but under state law if the school board agrees to change the name, then we can change it.”

Rosenblatt said the rejection of the name change will not affect her.

“It’s nothing I will lose sleep over,” she said.