Several Republican members of the state Assembly are pushing for New York state to pay the cost for high schools to transition from Native American mascots.

Legislation (A.4966) was introduced Feb. 27 in the Assembly by Assemblyman Matt Slater, R-Yorktown, and co-sponsored by four fellow Republicans. Thus far, there are no Democrat co-sponsors and no companion bill in the state Senate, so the future of Slater’s proposal is murky.

Slalter wants the state to pay the costs of selecting a new mascot, designing new mascot names and logos and replacing uniforms, marquees or areas of buildings, athletic fields, courts, vehicles or other areas of a school featuring logos or mascots the state Education Department is pushing schools to replace.

“New York State recently passed a law requiring schools to transition away from native mascots, names, or logos,” Slater wrote in his legislative justification. “Under the current law the schools affected by this new law will have to pay for the costs of the transition out of their school budget. Thus taking away the money from other crucial parts of the school’s budget. The reason for this bill is so that these schools will not have to choose between following the law or providing the best education they possibly can.”

Several school districts across the state fall under a November 2022 memo from the state Education Department that gave schools until the end of the 2022-23 academic year to discontinue the use of the imagery or face penalties, including the removal of school officers and the withholding of state aid. Guidelines given to schools in December by the state Board of Regents require school boards to adopt a plan to eliminate the use of the imagery by the end of the 2022-23 school year and to discontinue use by the end of the 2024-25 academic year. Those guidelines are part of a public comment period and could be formally approved by the state Board of Regents at its April meeting.

Paul Abbott, Jamestown Public Schools board president, announced this week that Jamestown High School will retire its Red Raider. There had been some confusion whether or not Jamestown would have to end its association with the nickname Raiders because the district had already retired any Native American imagery associated with the Red Raider, moving over the years from a Native American caricature to a block ‘J’ with a feather to, this year, a red panther that district officials said had previously been used as a JHS mascot predating the use of any Native American imagery. State Education Department officials told the district recently the use of the term “Raiders” would not be allowed.

“Districts that do not comply will not receive state aid,” Abbott said during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. “They have set a timetable for these changes. So, over the next two-plus school years, we have to replace all uniforms, paint over all walls and replace any flooring or turf at the expense of local taxpayers. The state is not funding any of this. And let’s be clear, state aid is taxpayer money. This isn’t a private corporation that donates money to our district.”