Regents make mascot ban official

On Board Online • April 24, 2023

By Sara Foss
Special Correspondent

The Board of Regents voted at their April meeting to bar New York public school districts from using names, mascots and logos that refer to Indigenous people unless they have permission from tribal nations. The board made no modifications of a previously announced ban.

While many New York school districts have already taken steps to retire their mascots, roughly 55 still use Indigenous names, mascots or logos.

Late last year, the State Education Department (SED) sent a letter to all school districts informing them that they have until the end of the current school year to comply or commit to replacing all Indigenous names, mascots and logos. All changes must be made by the end of the 2024-25 school year.

Districts that don't comply face penalties, which potentially include the removal of school officers or withholding of state aid.

The policy also prohibits school officers and employees from using or promoting Indigenous names, logos or mascots.

However, the approved regulation does not include a draft provision that could have required schools to ensure that community members don't display Indigenous names, logos or mascots when at school events. The deletion of a reference to "all individuals when located on school property or at a school function" was made after NYSSBA and the New York State Association of School Attorneys noted that school districts generally lack the authority to regulate the behavior of members of the public under the relevant law, the Dignity for All Students Act. Also, members of the public can claim a First Amendment right to wear whatever clothing they prefer, including, for instance, an old football jersey displaying a mascot from the past.

The regulation does not apply to members of tribal nations.

In 2001, then-Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills issued a memorandum asking schools with Native American mascots, nicknames and logos to replace them "as soon as practical." Some school districts complied, and others did not.

In a November letter to districts, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education James Baldwin wrote, "Schools are learning environments; students learn as much through observation of their surroundings as they do from direct instruction. In addition to their legal obligations, boards of education that continue to utilize Native American mascots must reflect upon the message their choices convey to students, parents, and their communities."

The Oneida Nation has expressed support for the ban.

"At its core, this issue is really about how this state views its responsibilities to an increasingly diverse population," the Nation said in a statement released last fall. "For too long, we have permitted old traditions to persist - the kind that suggest, in some circumstances, that it is acceptable to use dictionary-defined slurs as mascots, like was the case with the Washington NFL team before they changed their name."

One district that fought the state's directive, Cambridge Central School District, lost a court battle to keep its mascot. In June, a state Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of the New York State Education Department, finding that the commissioner did not overstep her authority when she said the current school board lacked a rationale to overturn the decision by a prior board to retire the district's "Indian Warrior" mascot.

During the public comment period, one superintendent asked the Education Department to consider "the allowance of mascot names that exhibit strength such as 'Braves' or 'Warriors.'"

SED rejected this request, stating, "The question is not whether the words 'braves' or 'warriors' are offensive in the abstract, but whether their use is appropriate in school districts that have a history of utilizing stereotypical names and imagery. No changes to the proposed rule are necessary."

Districts that have recently changed their mascots include Waterloo, Lyme, Watkins Glen and Candor.