canandaigua city school district

Name and Symbol Information

On Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 3:30 pm, every school district across New York State received a memo from the New York State Education Department and the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education. This memo is specific to the school district’s use of Native American logos, mascots, and names. It stated that districts must commit to replacing their Native American team name, logo, and/or imagery by the end of the 2022-23 school year. The memo also indicated that there would be forthcoming Regulations which will “clarify the school districts’ obligations.”

Since that time, we have taken a number of steps to respond to the Commissioner’s memo. This page is meant to provide updates to the community on our response to the memo and forthcoming Regulations as well as other important resources for understanding the possibility of a name and symbol change here in Canandaigua.

Check back regularly for updates to our process.

Canandaigua City School District Actions to Date:

Actions to be taken in the coming weeks:

  1. We will begin a series of surveys with the school community (staff, students, families, community members, and alumni). These surveys will be used to guide our work and our final determination for a school name, mascot, and symbol. The first survey will be released on May 5, 2023 at 3 pm.

  2. The Board of Education will, as required by the new Regulation, pass a resolution committing to changing our school name and symbol by the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

  3. Our Stakeholder Committee will meet to review the Regulation, FAQ, and Guidance Document, when made available, to discuss and understand the contents. The Committee will also review and discuss all survey results and help interpret the results and determine our final course of action.

Section V School Symbol Map

*Map does not reflect all changes to school symbols that have been made in the past few years.

Additional Resources & News Articles

[Articles may require paid subscription]

Indigenous Mascot Advisory Council's review process- Article from Rochesterfirst.com (March 23, 2023)

State Ed advisory group: Get rid of 'Warriors,' 'Raiders' team names- Article from Albany Times Union (March 25, 2023)

Salamanca Central School District working with Seneca Nation hoping to keep 'Warriors' name - News features from WKBK News 7 Buffalo (March 28, 2023)


 

First page of the PDF file: FrontPageForum

 

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