File photo by Tim Frank Jamestown’s Carsen Bane runs in the open field during last October’s Class A1 football game against Clarence at Strider Field.

JAMESTOWN — A plan has been put together on how Jamestown High School will move on from its “Red Raiders” nickname over the next two years. The move is at the behest of the state Education Department that said it will withhold state aid to districts that continue to use Native American imagery and names.

Included on the agenda for the Jamestown School Board is the proposed plan from Ben Drake, JPS athletic director. He said the district’s Mascot Committee met recently to discuss the high school’s nickname.

The committee also heard from Dr. Kevin Whitaker, superintendent, who said the school board needs to approve a plan for the transition to a new name.

School board members today are expected to discuss the two-year transition, which would end by June 2025 with the district replacing any remaining “more extensive” Red Raiders graphics — such as the turf at the football field — with the new name.

The proposed timeline is as follows for June:

¯ conduct an “open forum” with students after spring break to provide background information and education, discussion and a survey for students to provide their opinions.

¯ recruit new student members to the Mascot Committee.

¯ poll students on possible new names.

¯ poll community members and parents to gather possible new nicknames.

¯ generate a list of the most supported names.

In July and August, the committee would host follow-up meetings to discuss open forums and survey results. Additional surveys including students, parents, community and alumni are proposed to narrow the list of possible new names.

The timeline calls for the committee to recommend a new name to the school board by Dec. 31, 2023. Replacement of the Red Raiders imagery and nickname would be identified by June 2024.

In February, the state made it clear that school districts may no longer use the term “Raiders” in any nickname.

“Districts that do not comply will not receive state aid,” Paul Abbott, school board president, said at a Feb. 28 school board 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.”

At the time, Abbott said Jamestown needed to present a plan by June on what changes will be made; those changes then need to be completed by June 2025.

“So, basically, we have two school years to come up with a plan, give it for board approval and then the board approves the plan,” said Abbott, who previously estimated the cost to officially do away with all references to Red Raiders will be “tens of thousands of dollars.”

In May, leaders of the Seneca Indian Nation said they will allow the Salamanca City Central School District to continue using its Warrior nickname and logo. According to an Associated Press report, in giving approval, Seneca Nation President Rickey Armstrong Sr. said the Salamanca school district represented “the most unique of circumstances” because of its location on the nation’s Allegany Territory, and large percentages of Native American students and staff.

The New York Board of Regents this year officially prohibited public school districts from using Indigenous nicknames and mascots — but included an exception for districts that receive written approval from a federally recognized tribal nation in New York.

According to the Associated Press, Salamanca is the only U.S. city built on land leased from a Native American reservation; about 38% of students in the public school system are members of the 8,000-member Seneca tribe.

In 2014, the Jamestown School Board voted to eliminate the use of Native American imagery after the Seneca Nation sent then-Superintendent Tim Mains a letter regarding the nickname. In response to that letter, Abbott said “murals were painted over, uniforms replaced, fields and courts changed.”

School board members in February 2022 officially approved a “big, red cat” as its new mascot, a nod to images first used in 1948.