Pending a formal decision from the Office of Policy and Management, Derby stands to lose $207,304 in public funding Next year, while Killingly will lose $94,184 and Bethlehem will miss $4,125. Windsor and Woodbridge are not receiving money from the Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan Fund for the coming year and therefore will not face any financial consequences for retaining their mascots.

Of 12 school districts the state designated last year as having unacceptable nicknames or mascots, five have since rebranded, three have chosen to retain their “warrior” monikers while eliminating associated Native imagery, and the other four have so far retained their mascots. square.

Under the new law, districts have until July 1 this year to replace all Indigenous nicknames and logos, unless the OPM grants them an extension.

In January, the OPM asked Connecticut’s 169 municipalities to fill out a form listing the nicknames and mascots of all public schools so the agency can determine which towns are at risk of losing their tribal funding. On these forms, some school districts explained their intention to remove the Native mascots, while others maintained their current nicknames and/or images.

Among the notable submissions:

Killingly officials said they would retain the local high school’s “Redmen” mascot, which the city dumped in 2019 and then restored in early 2020 following political backlash.

Windsor, whose high school uses a nickname of ‘Warriors’ with an arrow logo, attached a letter from Superintendent Tim Hill reading: ‘At this time the Windsor School Board has not asked me to Engage the community in discussions regarding the evolution of the WHS Warriors name Until I receive instructions to do so, the name, Windsor High School Warriors, will remain.

Woodbury and Bethlehem officials checked a box that Nonnewaug High does not use a mascot associated with Native Americans, although the school retains a nickname, “Chiefs,” which the state has previously called an offensive mascot.

Derby, whose middle and high schools both use the “Red Raiders” moniker as well as several logos containing Indigenous imagery, enclosed a letter from Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, a state-recognized tribe with an office in the city. According to the letter, which does not specifically mention Derby, Schaghticokes endorse Native American-inspired mascots in certain contexts, “as a public means of supporting the Native American culture and history of Connecticut’s earliest citizens.”

Torrington High has made no official announcement about changing its “Red Raiders” moniker, but officials told the state the school is now known simply as “Raiders.”

Wilton officials explained that Wilton High’s logo depicts a “traditional Roman spearhead,” not an indigenous one, and the image was recently updated to make the distinction clearer.

The Watertown and Montville school districts have requested additional time to introduce new mascots that have already been approved by the respective city school boards. Watertown High, formerly the Indians, will become the Warriors this summer, while Montville High, also formerly the Indians, has yet to choose a new mascot. Both districts assured the state that their changes would go into effect by July 1, in accordance with the new law.

Montville also submitted a letter from James Gessner Jr., chairman of the Mohegan Tribe, explicitly granting permission for the city to retain the name Mohegan Elementary School.

Similarly, New Milford attached a letter from the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, identical to the one submitted by Derby, in defense of Schaghticoke Middle School, which is named after the tribe. It is not clear from the wording of the new law whether school names are subject to the same regulations as sports mascots.

Once a staple of Connecticut high school sports, Native American mascots have been phased out in recent years amid opposition from many Native groups, both locally and nationally. The National Congress of American Indians, for example, views Indigenous mascots as “symbols of disrespect that degrade, mock and harm Indigenous people, especially Indigenous youth,” according to its website.

In Connecticut, Chief Mohegan Lynn Malerba called “Demeaning” native mascots and recommended they be removed, while Mashantucket Pequot leaders also expressed support for efforts to replace Indigenous nicknames and images.

Many Connecticut towns have replaced Native nicknames or logos in the past three years, including Manchester, Farmington, Glastonbury, North Haven, Hebron, Guilford, West Hartford and more. This wave of mascot changes reflects a national trend that has seen professional teams such as baseball’s Cleveland Guardians (formerly Indians) and football’s Washington Commanders (formerly Redskins) adopting new names and images.

Connecticut’s new law passed last year as part of the budget implementation process, with key lawmakers arguing that cities whose mascots offend local Native tribes should not receive payments from those same tribes.

While some towns’ submissions to the OPM, like Killingly’s, seem clear-cut, the agency will face a variety of questions to determine which towns are or aren’t excluded from tribal funds due to the new law. Is the letter from the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation sufficient to allow Derby to retain its name and logos? Is “chiefs” an inherently Native American term? What about “warriors,” a nickname used by more than half a dozen Connecticut high schools, many of which don’t associate it with Native imagery?

OPM spokesperson Chris Collibee said in an email that the agency has not completed its review of city submissions and therefore “cannot comment on specific issues at this time.” “. The OPM, he said, will complete its review by next fall, in time to disburse the first round of annual payments from the Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan Fund by January 1.

All OPM decisions will be governed by the new statute, which defines a Native American mascot as “any name, symbol, or image that represents, refers to, or is associated with a state or federally recognized Native American tribe, or to an individual, custom, or Native American custom”. tradition.” Exceptions are allowed where a district can provide the written consent of a state or federally recognized tribe located in or historically associated with the city.

Officials from Windsor and the school district serving Woodbury and Bethlehem did not respond to requests for comment, nor did the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. Windsor Superintendent Terrell Hill declined to comment. Jim Gildea, Chairman of the Derby Board of Education says Hearst Connecticut Media in March that the district had “worked closely with the Schaghticoke Tribe to ensure that the way we use our name and mascot was respectful and honored their heritage, tradition and history.” The Schaghticoke Tribe is not federally recognized, although they have applied to be.

In an email to Hearst Connecticut Media, Torrington Superintendent Susan Lubomski said Torrington High had used the moniker “Red Raiders” for “about 10 years,” even though the moniker appeared frequently in articles by press and was listed until recently on the official CIAC website. . When informed that a Twitter account representing the school’s football team continued to use the handle “THSREDRAIDERS” as of Tuesday, Lubomski said she would “remediate the situation.”

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