The superintendents at Mansfield and Ashland have issued a joint letter in response to a recent incident in which bananas were left in the locker room of the Mansfield Senior football team.
The incident happened Oct. 5 at Community Stadium, when Ashland was hosting Mansfield Senior in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.
Because the Tyger football team is made up primarily of African-Americans, some called the move racist on social media.
Ashland High School athletic director and assistant principal Jason Goings issued an apology, saying the cross country team has had "Banana Fridays" in preparation for races for more than 20 years.
Any fruit the cross country team doesn't eat is left in the visiting locker room. A number of Mansfield Senior football players reportedly were angry and hurt over the move.
In the letter issued to local media, which was signed by Mansfield superintendent Brian Garverick and Ashland superintendent Doug Marrah, the administrators said representatives from both districts met recently to discuss the incident and how they could move forward.
According to the letter, which was addressed to "our communities," the following resolutions came out of the meeting:
• We need to compete on the field during athletic contests and work together as league members to assure our student-athletes are contributing members of their communities, both on and off the field.
• Both districts are committed to improving our students' cultural sensitivity.
• The Ohio Cardinal Conference league is educating each district's coaching staff on all aspects of cultural sensitivity.
• Both sides agreed as we move forward that communication is the key to our success.
• We agree that when someone is offended, we will listen and address their concerns in a timely manner.
• The Ashland City School District will work with Mr. Warren Jones, and Mansfield City School District will continue to use Significance LLC to assist and coordinate cultural diversity and sensitivity training for school employees and students.
The superintendents said there would be no further comment.
