Staff Editorial: Expensive district logo seems excessive

The image can be found on the WGSD’s Edline homepage and Newsletters.

Although the district had very pure intentions with the new logo, an $18,000 price tag seems excessive and ironic.

The money spent could have had much more value being spent for the district’s students and classrooms.

As said by physics teacher Dr. David Schuster:

“I think as an educational institution we don’t need to spend that kind of money particularly when we’ve got a niche in that we’ve got great artists here, who likely would’ve been thrilled to contribute to the image of the district.”

Not only would some of these tasks have been fostered by Webster Groves minds, but the final product could have cost much less.

We understand that the Webster community is prosperous and compared to the millions the school district spends on salaries and other expenditures, the $18,000 is drop in the bucket, but regardless, the district should not be excessively spending taxpayer money on services that it could easily provide for itself.

The district has a history of frivolous spending similar to this but has been able to correct itself. About a decade ago, the district used to spend a couple thousand dollars at the start of every school year to hire a motivational speaker to inspire the teachers. This idea was eventually scrapped as the district started using its own staff members to give motivational speeches for much less cost. This rational mindset is what the district should always have when handling finances.

However, with mindfulness, the district did create a very accurate depiction of itself. It took the time to interview 30 students and survey 800 community members about what they were proud of within the district. We are glad that its new logo legitimately represents the district, but just disappointed with the price that came with it.