ELMA, N.Y. — The Iroquois Central School District will be changing its mascot and logo for the 2024-25 school year, and you can be part of making the decision on what is chosen.
For the past 68 years, Iroquois Central has only had only one name, the Chiefs.
“We have to live up to our intentions,” said Iroquois Central Superintendent Douglas Scofield. “Our intention is to honor and be respectful, and that’s why we’re changing it.”
The school district's official schedule to make the change is as follows:
In April, the New York Board of Regents approved a policy banning all Native American-themed names, mascots, and logos for all school districts in the state.
That decision forced several schools like Iroquois to make a change, much to the disappointment of several within the local community.
“I’d like to stay the Chiefs, I can’t think of another name that would go with Iroquois,” said Marilla resident Laura Boruszewski. “I think it’s horrible, there’s nothing wrong with Chiefs.”
“It’s a name that’s been attached to that school for a long time, so it’ll be a tough decision,” said Deb Seeber, who is running for Erie County Legislature in District 10.
The superintendent shared that the name of the school “Iroquois Central” is here to stay, but that both the figure head of a Native American and the mascot name “Chiefs” will be replaced.
“We want to get the message out to the residents of Iroquois of the timeline and how they can participate.”
Starting next month, any person within the school district can fill out an online form to propose their own new mascot name.
The school shared the new mascot must have the same colors (Red, White and Blue), no duplicates of any other school in Western New York, have a single design logo, and be non-offensive.
“The more participation and more ideas,the better off we will be,” Scofield said.
Once all submissions are made, the top 25 will be chosen by a school committee and will be voted on by the general public.
The winning name will then have the same process repeated with a logo design, again with online submissions, followed by a public vote.
Superintendent Scofield said the cost to replace everything that the state requires will cost the school roughly $500,000 in taxpayer money.
“A majority of that is sports uniforms… and there are different things on floors that are painted on and graphics and decals.”
The current plan is to have the new mascot chosen in January and the new logo chosen in March.
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