(WBEN/1010 WINS) - Back on Nov. 17, the New York State Education Department sent a memo to dozens of school districts across the state, directing them to retire all Native American mascots, or potentially risk losing school officials or state aid if they don't comply.
As part of the memo sent to districts, senior Deputy Education Commissioner James Baldwin said they must ensure “mascots, team names, and logos are non-discriminatory,” and he reiterated the department’s opposition to Native American mascots.
Baldwin also noted in the memo that another memorandum was issued back in 2001 by then-Education Commissioner Richard Mills, who urged districts to stop using the mascots, as they can become, “a barrier to building a safe and nurturing school community and improving academic achievement for all students.”
While a number of districts followed through on the directive and retired their mascots in the years since, Baldwin says other school districts have yet to comply.
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There are a number of local school districts across Western New York that still use a mascot with Native American ties. Districts like Tonawanda, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, Iroquois and Salamanca all currently have some sort of team name, mascot or logo associated with a Native American.
While the memo says that school districts must "immediately come into compliance" with the matter, many districts still have questions surrounding the timeline of it all.
"They had sent a memo out - immediately, to me, is tomorrow we better not use our Indian mascot or whatever it may be - I don't know that 'immediately' would be the right term," said Scott Zipp, Superintendent at Cheektowaga Central School District. "What it is is by the end of this school year, Cheektowaga Central School District, being me, has to agree that we're going to move forward removing our logo of the Warrior head."
While many schools will be lining up meetings in the coming days before the end of the year to discuss this issue, districts like Iroquois have already met and spent a large portion of their sessions discussing the memo sent by the State Education Department.
"I think the takeaway you're going to get from this is that it is not entirely clear how to go about this process," said Ryan Smith, a local lawyer representing the Iroquois Central School District. "There are regulations that State Ed. is going to be proposing, hopefully, at some point this month, which will then be reviewed for a period of time and ultimately finalized, hopefully, in early 2023.
"The State Education Department is clearly putting districts on notice that use Native American imagery that S.E.D. would like to see that changed. So at this point, we're obviously interested and having discussions about what this might look like, and waiting to see what the regulations will ultimately say."
In the meantime, some districts are more so in a wait-and-see mode until more regulations are sent out by the State Education Department on what comes next of its memo.
"This was a memo basically letting superintendents know this is what's coming down the pipe, and it's no longer like, 'Hey, we think this should happen.' It's a regulation," Zipp said. "By the end of this year, we have to agree that we're going to do that, otherwise it could affect removal of officers and state aid. And then you have, basically, two years to make sure all of the school belongings that may have that imagery on it are replaced."
While schools wait for more of a directive from the state, districts are taking stock of how much work could potentially need to be done in hallways, gymnasiums or other athletic complexes if they are obligated, or decide to retire their Native American mascot.
"What we're doing right now is I asked the athletic director to make an inventory of places where our Native American, or our Warrior head imagery is being used, such as our turf field. He's going to get that list to me, and in the meantime, we're going to wait for the exacts of State Ed. regulation," Zipp said. "Cheektowaga Central is going to do what we need to do to make sure we're following regulation, as well as we're doing what's right in our community."
As for a district like the Salamanca Central School District, it lies on the Seneca Nation of Indians territory on their Allegheny territory. While they have a very close relationship with the Seneca Nation, members of the district support the State Education Department's decision to require districts to retire the mascots that have a native reference in one form or another, which includes Salamanca as the Warriors.
"We don't have a mascot, but we do have a logo, which is an accurately depicted Seneca male," said Superintendent Dr. Mark Beehler. "Because we are the Warriors, and because of our logo, that puts us in conflict, essentially, with State Ed.'s directive.
"Salamanca has had that logo since the early '70s. The logo was designed and drawn by a very prominent and successful Seneca artist by the name of Carson Waterman, and it was designed specifically to accurately depict a Seneca male. That was done so that it would reflect the heritage and be respectful of the students and the community that Salamanca serves. Now, whether we continue with it is really open, at this point. Whether we continue to be the Warriors, which we have been for decades and decades, is essentially on the table for discussion, as well."
However, there is a clause for districts across the state that could allow them to keep their team mascot, especially in a case like Salamanca's. Like the other schools in the region, Beehler explains there are still unanswered questions about the clause, which they hope to get more explanation on soon.
"State Ed. has identified that school districts can collaborate, and essentially have an agreement with a Native Nation or Tribe, and essentially get permission to either keep their name, keep the logo, and the State Ed. will then allow that to continue, or that's what we're under the understanding of," he said.
While feedback from the community in each district has varied, leaders say people have been very respectful of how the process is playing out in the early stages.
"A lot of alumni are committed to the Warriors name, 'Once a Warrior, always a Warrior' is something that is heard throughout Salamanca. 'Warrior Pride' is another. But at the same time, there's also several comments that are saying, 'You know what, it's time to retire that. It's disrespectful to Native Americans to be portrayed only as Warriors,'" Beehler said. "We have heard both sides, essentially, those looking to keep the Warrior name and their logo, and those who are recommending that maybe it's time to give up the Warrior name. The logo, interestingly, though, has had no controversy around it. There appears to be pretty consistent desire to keep that."
"I think Cheektowaga will be the same as most other communities. There's going to be a portion of people that disagree, and a portion of people that agree. Like any decision that's made, you're kind of like referees of an athletic contest: Half the people in the venue are happy with that call, and half the people are not," Zipp added. "I would imagine there'll be people on both sides of that. I mean, that's just me making a prediction over other societal issues that are in place or that take place. But I don't know, I guess, until it happens."
As previously mentioned, school officials have been directing people in the district to do some inventory on all that would need change in the district if the decision is made to move forward with a new mascot, team name or logo. However, there is potential for the cost of those changes to mount up and be quite costly in the end.
"There's no mention of how these changes will be funded," said Iroquois school board member Chuck Specht. "You don't just flip a switch, and I'm sure those of you in business, any company that wishes to undertake changing their logo or trademark, it's an expensive proposition. So as a board member, I mean, I'm very interested to know how this is all going to be funded, if it does come to fruition."
Although the talk of cost to some districts may be a bit premature, the inventory intake is allowing for schools to get a step ahead of what may be ahead for changes.
"I'm sure State Ed. has identified that switching logos and switching names can be exceptionally expensive. We have a beautiful turf field that we just laid three years ago at Veterans Park that has the name Warriors in it, and in the middle, it has our Native American logo. Our scoreboard would have to be re-faced. We have the name Warriors and our logo embedded in tile throughout the district," Beehler said. "It's interesting, because over the past two weeks since that memo came out, and once you start looking around and saying, 'Wow, the Warriors are everywhere. The term, our logo is everywhere.' I can't come up with a dollar amount, but it'll be a significant cost, and actually a time-consuming venture."
While many schools will closely examine their situation in the coming weeks and months with their Native American mascots, they can potentially learn from other school districts that have made recent changes over the years.
The one recent example of a local school district making a change from their Native American mascot came in 2015 when Lancaster Central School District became the "Legends" after years with the controversial "Redskins" nickname. Districts like Salamanca say if they look into a change going forward, they would absolutely be willing to reach out to school officials for their advise on how to handle the change.
"One thing that's great in Western New York is that the superintendents and district leaders really work together, and when a district goes through circumstances like Lancaster did, they're very willing to help and provide guidance, and things that they did successfully, share that information, and also things that they would do differently," Beehler said. "This will absolutely be a collaborative effort. I will be reaching out to several districts and superintendents throughout Western New York and New York State who have gone through a similar process so we can glean information from them."
When reached for comment on the past process of changing the school nickname, we did not receive any comments from Lancaster officials.
Meanwhile, we reached to other schools in the region for their thoughts on the State Education Department's memo regarding the change of Native American mascots. A couple of districts elected to release statements on the matter, but did not wish to comment any further:
West Seneca Central Schools:
It is our understanding that regulations will follow the memo from State Ed, and we will want all of the information before any decisions are made. The '"W" logo is on the field and in the gym. Some of our older uniforms still have the word "Indians" and the Indian logo. Uniforms are replaced every four or five years.
According to AD Marisa Fallacaro-Dougherty, "We have been switching our logo to the "W" for the most part, and going with 'Bleed Blue' or 'Go West' instead of 'Go Indians' or 'Indians'. We do have several uniforms that we are currently using that have not been up for replacement yet, which is why they still have that logo and name on them. So yes, we have been in the process of phasing out the Native American logo and the use of the word 'Indian'."
Tonawanda City School District:
Our District is committed to being an inclusive, culturally sensitive, and responsible member of the City of Tonawanda and the Western New York region. Although our District has taken numerous steps in recent decades to modify our logo, change our team name, and eliminate our mascot, there may be more work in this area to consider at this time.
The Board of Education and [Superintendent Timothy Oldenburg] are awaiting the regulations that are currently being developed by the Department of Education. These regulations, once adopted by the NYS Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education, will provide the requirements, restrictions, and parameters for a focused evaluation of the current logo and team name in our District.
This guidance will inform our pathway forward. The Board of Education and [Oldenburg] are committed to a transparent process that includes clear communication and a purposeful approach that is appropriate for this sensitive topic.
Read more of Tonawanda's statement here: