Three Connecticut schools are now ineligible for funding from the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund after a review of the schools' names, images and symbols showed noncompliance with state statutes.
The schools are the Canton High School Warriors, the Killingly High School Redmen and Red Gals, and the Windsor High School Warriors.
Killingly was supposed to receive more than $94,000 in funding, but they won't be eligible anymore due to the review's findings.
Canton and Windsor don't currently receive funding, but they're now ineligible, according to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM).
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“Pursuant to the statute, the Office of Policy and Management carefully reviewed each submission from every municipality and school district in the state, which included every public elementary, middle, and high school,” said OPM Secretary Jeffrey Beckham. “Three schools, Canton High School, Killingly High School, and Windsor High School all certified that they will continue using Native American names, images, or symbols, and as a result those schools are ineligible to receive grants provided by the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund.”
Officials of the three schools told OPM that they intend "to keep their name, symbol or image that depicts, refers to, or is associated with Native American tribes, individuals, customs, or traditions without the permission of a recognized tribe."
Five other schools in Connecticut use Native American names, images or symbols but they've all received consent from recognized tribes. These schools include Derby High School, Derby Middle School, R.A.I.S.E. Academy in Derby, Mohegan Elementary School in Montville, and Schaghticoke Middle School in New Milford.
