Changes to American Indian mascot rules may make exemptions easier for school districts, tribes
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School districts anxious about the costs associated with changing their school’s mascot received help from lawmakers during a special session of the state Legislature Monday.
A change to the state’s ban on American Indian mascots may make it easier for public school districts to seek an exemption.
The change will allow Grand Rapids Area Schools and other school districts to seek support from the tribal nation nearest to them when seeking an exemption. Under the previous bill, school districts had to seek support from all 11 tribal nations in the state and the Tribal Nations Education Committee, an independent body established by tribal nations. State law requires the Minnesota Department of Education to consult with the committee on education matters affecting American Indian students in the state.
Grand Rapids Area Schools superintendent Matt Grose said Grand Rapids Area Schools, which has nine educational sites, including two alternative sites, will seek an exemption for one of its district’s mascots, the Thunderhawks.
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“I’m grateful that legislators heard districts’ request for a reasonable and responsible and respectful path forward, and I think that this bill gives us that,” said Grose.
Grand Rapids Area Schools is located near several tribal nations in the northern part of the state.
The change to the mascot law will also require school districts seeking an exemption to gather a letter from their district’s American Indian Parent Advisory Committee, if the district has a committee.
Grand Rapids applied for an exemption last year and was denied. Grose said Grand Rapids will seek an exemption under the new law. He said the request will allow his district to work “on the relationships that we have with our local tribes, to make the best decision about our mascot.”
The new law also removes the deadline for exemption requests.
Schools districts report progress
After the state passed the mascot ban in 2023, almost two dozen school districts were sent letters informing them their school’s mascot violated the law. Those districts who had not received an exemption were required to submit an initial progress report to the Legislature’s Education Finance Committee this past February.
In the report filed in February, superintendent Matt Grose estimated the costs of removing the current mascot and choosing another mascot for Grand Rapids at approximately $800,000. Costs include purchase of new sports uniforms and renovations to gymnasiums floors and school grounds.
“There is absolutely zero appetite in my community for costs that are significant coming out of our general fund, which is where they would need to come from at a time when we’ve been eliminating jobs and opportunities for kids,” Grose said.
In that same report, Grose suggested the Legislature provide school districts with funding to remove mascot imagery.
Other school districts will likely not be eligible for an exemption to the law and will have to choose a new mascot and logo.
In its report filed with the state in February, Sleepy Eye Public Schools superintendent John Cselovszki reported the school plans to change its name from the Sleepy Eye Indians to the Sleepy Eye Storm. In an email to MPR News, Cselovszki confirmed the estimated cost of purchasing new school uniforms and replacing old logos is $450,000.
The bill’s author state Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, said the proposal made at the start of session included grants to schools to make the necessary changes, but that provision was not included in the final version of the bill. Kunesh said she plans to re-introduce language which would help schools with at least part of those costs next year.
‘We want to move forward in a positive way’
In the southeast part of the state, relationships between a local school district and a tribal nation have played a role in changes to the law.
The Prairie Island Indian Community meets regularly with Red Wing Public Schools on a variety of issues they share, including the mascot issue.
Grant Johnson, president of Prairie Island Indian Community, said the tribe supports the change to how schools may apply for an exemption. He said he also remains firm when it comes to eliminating harmful imagery.
“Mascots are often stereotypical, misleading and insulting and they are psychologically damaging to our children and our youth. Offensive mascots should be prohibited,” Johnson said.
Red Wing Public Schools was one of a small handful of schools which applied for an exemption to the mascot law citing the expense of making changes to school uniforms, facilities and grounds.
Called the “Wingers,” the Red Wing Public Schools’ mascot is a bald eagle and features an image of an eagle’s wing on banners and school uniforms. The district also uses a scarlet red feather next to its name on its website and letter heard, a visual reference to the town of Red Wing. The town was named for a 19th-century Dakota leader whom American settlers called Chief Red Wing.
The image of the scarlet red feather could be one of the reasons the Red Wing Public Schools was denied an exemption last year.
Bob Jaszczak, superintendent of Red Wing Public Schools, says the school district, with around 2,200 students across five buildings, will re-apply for an exemption under the amended law.
“We’re able to make sure that we’re paying attention, to make sure that we’re culturally sensitive to their needs,” said Jaszczak. “So, we can recognize the history that is involved with the Dakota people here in the Red Wing area, as well as our community as a whole.”
Johnson said Prairie Island does intend to support Red Wing Public Schools’ application for an exemption.
