Schoharie Central School will be asking for the community’s help in suggesting–and choosing–its next mascot.
The State Education Department has given the 63 schools using Indian mascots until the end of June to come up with a replacement.
Schools that don’t, face the loss of state aid–in Schoharie’s case, $13.4 million annually–and the dismissal of administration and school board members.
SCS Superintendent Dave Blanchard outlined the short timeline for the change for about 50 district residents at a community forum on the mascot last Wednesday, calling the mascot change “an unfunded mandate handed down in a simple memo.”
In 2001, the State Education Department issued a memo calling for schools to “end the use of Native American mascots as practical.”
Some schools sat on the memo, others like Cambridge Central School in Washington County challenged it in court–and is appealing a June 22, 2022 decision by the Albany County Supreme Court ordering it to remove its Indians team logo.
Mr. Blanchard said following the 2001 memo SCS took the position that “We weren’t going to spend state money on mascot changes,” in part because there was a bill in the State Assembly that would have allowed the use of “current materials and uniforms until September 1, 2024.”
That bill never moved forward.
Now, schools must have their choices for a replacement mascot to the state for approval by June.
Schoharie’s timeline is even tighter, Mr. Blanchard said, since they’ll be beginning work on new soccer and baseball fields in a few months and want to include the new mascot.
SCS plans a 30-day online poll on the school website for mascot suggestions–paper copies of the survey will also be available–and a committee of volunteers and Athletic Director David Russell will sift through suggestions and put four or five up for a vote.
The winner will go to a graphic designer, who will design and develop the new logo.
Raquel Okyay was one of those in the audience Wednesday who asked if the district had considered fighting the state’s mandate–something that would “show students we are standing up for ourselves.”
It would be a lost cause, Mr. Blanchard said.
“Nobody, nobody, is fighting this,” he said. “You wouldn’t want me here as superintendent if I cost the district $13.4 million [in state aid]–that’s half our operating budget,” and even districts that rely less on state aid aren’t fighting the mandate.
Several in the audience spoke to the Indian mascot’s history at SCS and Barbara Simone read a letter from 1978 SCS graduate Elizabeth Martinez Tissiere who called it a “symbol of pride” in the Schoharie Valley’s Native American roots” and of Native Americans as “people of integrity and grit.”
But Jan Herrick, who is native American and whose children attended SCS knowing the image was offensive to her, asked if there was any other group supporters would feel comfortable seeing portrayed this way, pointing out the SCS Indian headdress isn’t historically accurate for the Iroquois.
“It’s what we grew up with. It’s what we became very proud of,” said alum Judy Warner.
Answering questions, Mr. Blanchard said he hopes to retain Schoharie’s blue and white colors’ maybe, for example, they’d become the Blue Devils, like Columbia High School in East Greenbush.
That prompted one woman opposed to the change from Indians to say as a Christian, she couldn’t support that.
Others in the audience asked if students can still wear their SCS shirts with Indian logos.
Yes, for now, Mr. Blanchard said, but eventually SCS will have to “enforce” all images–including t-shirts–on school grounds.
One man said he’d send his daughter to school in hers no matter what.
The mascot change will also mean changing the logo on the gym floor; all told, Mr. Blanchard said, he expects the switch to cost the district about $100,000.
But he’d also like to make the best of it.
“I want to help students rebrand with something they’ll be excited about.”
“It’s a chance for them to come up with a logo that will be here for the next 100 years,” he said afterwards.