The Cobb County School District has pulled a redesigned logo for East Side Elementary School in East Cobb following complaints from parents and others in the community that it looks like the eagle crest from Nazi Germany.
In a note sent out on a non-official school-related Facebook page late Monday, the district said that “the school is aware of concerns about these logos, and therefore, we have paused to consider that feedback. We will be immediately reviewing the logos to determine needed changes.”
Also on Monday night, East Side principal Marcia Clark sent a similar message to parents. Both messages concluded by saying that “stakeholder input has been, and continues to be, important to our school, and we appreciate those who took the time to share their thoughts.”
East Side, which is marking its 70th anniversary this year, is one of several schools in the Cobb district with the Eagles nickname.
East Side is also located at Roswell Road and Indian Hills Parkway, across the latter from Congregation Etz Chaim, the first synagogue in East Cobb.
The new logo was sent out to parents via the district’s Cobb Teaching and Learning Portal.
In rolling out the new logos, a message to the East Side community said that “the new logo and badges were chosen to represent the Eagle soaring into excellence and to honor the history of our great school!”
On her Twitter account Monday night, East Side parent Stacy Efrat said that “our Jewish family has always felt loved and welcome” at the school and that “let’s assume this was an honest mistake and a coincidence.”
After getting Clark’s e-mail, however, Efrat said that “we don’t need to ‘pause to consider’ or ‘review’ the logos. They are symbolic of Nazi images and should be deleted immediately, full stop. The district should apologize to all East Side families for the harm that this has caused.”
Similar comments were made late Monday and Tuesday on other social media channels.
In response to a message from East Cobb News, a district spokeswoman said late Tuesday afternoon that “we understand and strongly agree that similarities to Nazi symbolism are unacceptable. Although this design was based on the U.S. Army colonel’s eagle wings, stakeholder input has been and continues to be important to our schools.”
She didn’t say who designed the logo or explain the process for coming up with a new one, except to state that “the District supports all re-branding requests and decisions by local schools, to ensure our schools are legally compliant.”
The “Reichsadler” or “Imperial Eagle” logo dates back in Germany before the Third Reich. But the Anti-Defamation League considers it a hate symbol, since it has continued to be adopted by neo-Nazi and related groups.
The German government continues to use what it refers to as a “Bundesadler” or “Federal Eagle” logo that’s designed differently from the Nazi-era coat of arms.
It’s been nearly a year since Pope and Lassiter high schools in East Cobb were vandalized with swastika graffiti in bathrooms that prompted a community outcry. Then-Cobb school board chairman Randy Scamihorn was invited to attend a Yom Kippur service at East Cobb’s Temple Kol Emeth.
Last October Scamihorn introduced a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and racism that passed by a party-line vote after some members and citizens complained that the matter was added to the agenda late, and saying that the district still needed to do more to address acts of hate in the school system.
In February, photos surfaced of students at East Cobb Middle School wearing swastika armbands and giving the Nazi salute on campus.
The Cobb school district last year dropped the use of teaching materials from the Southeast Regional office of ADL, “No Place for Hate,” that critics continue to insist needs to be reintroduced.
On the East Side ES website, there’s no mention of the now-retracted logo. It did note that July 28, the Friday before the start of the new school year on Aug. 1, is “Eagle Day,” when parents and students can meet teachers and learn about and sign up for other school activities.
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