(KAIR)--Public voices will be heard regarding the fate of the Atchison Public School mascot.

The controversial Redmen mascot has been the focus of a committee assigned to develop the pros and cons of its continued use, based on the perception that it carries racist connotations toward Native Americans.

The committee has completed it's mission, clearing the way for a public forum to be held next month. “September the 17th, at 5:30. That's when the forum is scheduled,” Herb Gwaltney, President of the USD 409 Board of Education announced Monday evening, following finalization of the plan during the School Board's regular meeting. “This is the meeting that the board has requested with the citizens of our school district, and interested individuals, to talk about the mascot.”

The forum will be held at the Atchison Elementary School as a special meeting of the Board of Education.

Serving as moderator will be Brian Jordan, of the Kansas Association of School Boards.

Jordan served as moderator in Manhattan, Kansas during a 2016 forum also focused on use of a Native American-themed mascot by the Manhattan public high school.

Despite discussion held by Atchison's public school leaders Monday evening, suggestions regarding the format, and ground rules, were not immediately decided.

Instead, discussion will be held with Jordan, prior to the forum, to determine how it will be handled.

The mascot committee was formed in 2016 after the school district received what Myers called “written communications pertaining to the use of the Redmen mascot.”

A completed cost analysis conducted by the district shows that a change in mascots would carry a pricetag of $14,764 for the High School's Redmen mascot and $4,575 for the Middle School's Braves mascot.