Dear Liberty,

The quest for a new mascot is continuing at Liberty Central School District.

Following a state Supreme Court ruling, the state Education Department in November determined that Liberty and the dozens of schools across the state who use Indian mascots and imagery are in violation of The Dignity for All Students Act. Schools must make a change by the end of the 2024-25 school year or risk losing state funding. After a 60-day comment period on a rule instituting the change and a public hearing, the state Board of Regents, which supervises school districts, adopted the rule by unanimous vote on Tuesday.

We will remain the Indians until the end of this school year. A new mascot will be in effect for the 2023-24 school year, with full implementation of the change by the end of the following year.

We have already taken several steps to comply with the rule, including a community forum, a survey, meetings with students and staff and the formation of a committee to address the issue.

The rule offered general guidance, but SED has offered further clarification regarding our current logos and legacy items.

According to SED, we will no longer be able to use the Block L with feathers or our shield logos with feathers, because they reference the Indian mascot. SED said the old logos would carry that connection even if a feathered mascot were chosen by Liberty.

However, legacy items that contain the “Indians” name or logo, such as athletic banners in the gymnasium, can remain, but we are encouraged to display them differently. District officials, employees and students must refrain from wearing legacy spirit wear that contains the old mascot or logos, or any clothing that promotes the use of a Native American team name, logo or mascot.

The Mascot Committee is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 24,  at the High School Media Center. At that meeting, the committee — using the survey results, input from students, staff and the community, information provided by the state and discussion during the meetings — is expected to establish how we will narrow down the mascot choices and discuss how the new mascot will be chosen.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick Sullivan

Superintendent of Schools