State: Killingly must forfeit $94K in funding due to high school mascot
The town of Killingly will forfeit $94,184 in state funding this year due to its high school’s continued use of the “Redmen” and “Red Gals” mascots, Connecticut’s Office of Policy Management announced Thursday.
Killingly was one of three towns found out of compliance with a 2021 state law that restricts the use of Native American mascots in Connecticut schools. Windsor and Canton, both of whose high schools use a “Warriors” mascot, are also out of compliance, according to a state review, but do not receive any money from the Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan Fund and, therefore, do not stand to face any financial penalty.
Other towns, such as Derby, whose schools use the nickname “Red Raiders,” were granted exemptions after receiving consent from recognized Native tribes.
Earlier this year, every Connecticut town was required to submit a form to OPM documenting the mascots for each of its schools. While most districts certified that they did not use any offending mascots (or intended to phase them out imminently), Killingly, Windsor and Canton indicated that they would retain a name and/or imagery associated with indigenous peoples, without written consent from Native groups.
Once a fixture of Connecticut
high school sports, Native American nicknames and logos have become less common over recent years, as schools have adopted new monikers in response to increasingly fervent objections from Native Americans locally and nationally. The trend accelerated after the passage of the new law in June 2021, with North Haven, Watertown, Montville and West Hartford among the towns to replace their mascots in the time since.
Some towns, however, have resisted change.
In Killingly, the Board of Education voted in 2019 to remove its nickname and mascot, only to reverse course months later following political backlash.
In Windsor, where the “Warriors” nickname is accompanied by an arrowhead logo, Superintendent Terrell Hill told the state earlier this year that he had “not been directed by the Windsor Board of Education to engage the community in discussions regarding the changing of the WHS Warriors name.”
“Until I have been instructed to do so, the name, Windsor High School Warriors, will remain,” he wrote.
In Canton, the Board of Education voted last year to keep its “Warriors” nickname while removing all Native-related imagery — a decision mirroring that of several other school districts statewide.
Asked why Canton was
deemed out of compliance with state law even while other “Warriors” schools, such as Wilton, Valley Regional and Wamogo Regional, were not, an OPM spokesperson said the decision was based on Canton’s certification form, on which officials checked a box indicating the school “has chosen to retain its name, symbol or image that depicts,
refers to, or is associated with” Native people or customs.
In a statement, OPM secretary Jeffrey Beckham said the agency had “carefully reviewed each submission” in reaching its decisions.
Officials from Killingly, Windsor and Canton did immediately not respond to requests for comment.