Connetquot school district faces 'impossible' choice in NYS Native American mascot fight, experts say

The Connetquot school district faces an "impossible" choice, according to experts: Should it keep its new nickname, the T-Birds, and run afoul of the federal government or should it go back to the Thunderbirds and risk penalties from the state?

The federal Education Department has determined that T-Birds, a nickname chosen to comply with a state ban on Native American mascots and imagery in public schools, violates civil rights law. It is demanding that the district rebrand — again — as the Thunderbirds. But doing so could result in a loss of state aid and the removal of school officials like board members.

Connetquot is "between a rock and a hard place," said Tiffany Graham, an associate professor at the Touro Law Center in Central Islip.

District officials have not said what they plan to do. Legal and education experts say the federal determination departs from past precedent and ultimately, they expect it will set up a showdown between the federal and state governments to determine whose authority should prevail.

"This is going to have to be worked out in the courts," said Alan Singer, professor emeritus of teaching, learning and technology at Hofstra University.

Title VI violation alleged

The Connetquot district first came under fire from the federal Education Department in July, after school officials announced that they were "exploring options for an alternative mascot name" in an effort to comply with the state's ban. In September, the school board voted 3-2 to accept a proposed settlement with the state that called for the district to change its nickname from the Thunderbirds to the T-Birds.

Four months later, in January, the federal Education Department announced that by doing away with its nickname due to its Native American roots, the district had violated Title VI of federal civil rights law.

"We will not allow ideologues to decide that some mascots based on national origin are acceptable while others are banned. Equal treatment under the law is non-negotiable,” assistant secretary for civil rights, Kimberly Richey, said in a statement at the time.

Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in federally funded education programs.

The Education Department had previously determined that the state's mascot ban violated Title VI because it barred the use of Native American mascots while allowing those "derived from other racial or ethnic groups, such as the 'Dutchmen' and the 'Huguenots.'" The state was given 10 days to rescind the ban or face referral to the Department of Justice and possible loss of funding. 

The state refused to do so and the case has since been sent on to the Justice Department.

Zachary D. Schurin, a Connecticut attorney who has studied mascot bans, said in the past Title VI had generally been used in situations where a student or staff member has "experienced a hostile environment."

"This is a new way to applying law...that doesn’t have really a precedent in other cases involving school mascots and team names," he said.

Emma Hulse, education counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the Trump administration has offered "novel and unfounded interpretations" of federal civil rights law in an effort to eliminate state protections for marginalized communities.

The tactic is also being used in disputes over transgender students, she said. Last month, the federal Education Department announced it had launched civil rights investigations into 18 "educational entities," including the Bellmore-Merrick school district, for allegedly engaging in sex discrimination by allowing students to participate in sports based on their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.

Last year, the department had threatened to pull funding from Maine over similar allegations. 

Cutting funding is unusual, Hulse said. Historically, civil rights investigations would stretch over several years, ultimately ending in settlements.

"I think the goal here is to force the state, to force school districts, into compliance," she said.

Supremacy conflict

The federal Education Department has said that it offered the Connetquot district a chance to enter into a resolution agreement that calls for the district to revert to its Thunderbirds name.

The district said they are still reviewing the federal Education Department's report. 

While the federal agency has not said it would cut funding to the district if it does not comply, experts say it is a possibility.

"The district is obliged to follow both state and federal law ... the consequence of not following the interpretation of federal law is they could risk losing federal funding and they can’t afford that," said Graham, the Touro Law Center professor.

Federal funding makes up an average of 5 to 10% of Long Island school districts’ budgets, and goes toward programs that assist low-income and special education students, as well as teacher training.

Graham argued that something else could be at play as well.

"Once the Trump administration issues this interpretation of Title VI, what they have really done is established a supremacy clause conflict between the federal law and state law," she said. If it is "impossible" to comply with both, she said, "assuming the federal law is valid, the federal law wins."

Hulse, however, noted that disputes between federal and state law are "complex."

"There is traditionally a very heavy burden to conclude, particularly in these areas where there's historically been a state responsibility for policing the issue in question," she said. "I don't think there's any kind of strong argument that the [federal] Department of Education's interpretation of federal law preempts state law."

But, she added, "It's certainly true that they are trying to do this across issue areas."

Representatives for the federal Education Department did not return multiple requests for comment.

The Native American Guardian's Association, a North Dakota-based group, supports the use of Native American imagery in schools. It has partnered with the Massapequa school district to challenge the state's ban.

The organization's attorney, Chap Petersen, said, "Our position is that the state law ... violates the 14th Amendment," which mandates that states provide equal protection under the law to all citizens. He added, "It clarifies one group of people, one ethnicity, as being unworthy of recognition." 

But Sandi Brewster-walker, executive director and government affairs officer for the Montaukett Indian Nation, said, "The use of a Native American mascot will continue to dehumanize our Native people and does not honor us. The U.S. Department of Education weighing in on the issue is misleading and insulting, as well as a real mockery of our nation’s civil rights laws."

State officials, meanwhile, are standing firm on the ban, despite challenges on the local and national level.

State Education Department spokesman JP O'Hare called the federal government's arguments "contradictory and unpersuasive" and noted that numerous states have laws, regulations or policies that prohibit "stereotypical" Indigenous mascots.

"There is no reason, other than advocacy by a few school boards on Long Island, that this rule...should be treated differently," he wrote.