Massapequa school district files amended complaint over mascot ban controversy

The Massapequa school district filed an amended complaint this week in its ongoing challenge to the state's ban on Native American mascots, team names and other imagery in public schools.

"With this amended complaint, our message is clear: We will not back down," the board of education wrote in a message to the community Thursday.

The district filed the complaint in U.S. District Court on Monday, nearly two months after a federal judge ruled against Massapequa and three other Long Island districts — Connetquot, Wyandanch and Wantagh — that had sought to either keep their names or nullify the state regulation, Newsday has reported.

Massapequa, whose team name is the Chiefs, had subsequently filed a notice of appeal. The district's new complaint "remedies prior claims" and introduces several new legal claims against the state.

District officials had previously argued that the state regulation violates their First Amendment rights. The new complaint also argues that it violates federal civil rights law and constitutional powers, including the Indian Commerce Clause, which grants Congress the authority "to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes."

The school board said in their statement, "Since the court dismissed our previous complaint in March, we have been working tirelessly to pursue every legal and community-based avenue available to preserve the history, tradition and culture of the Massapequa Chiefs."

But JP O'Hare, spokesperson for the state Education Department, expressed confidence in a statement Friday that the courts would continue to "uphold the Department’s authority to prohibit the use of Indigenous names and mascots."

New partnership announced

The state Board of Regents in 2023 banned the use of Native American mascots, team names and logos in public schools. The regulation affected 13 districts on Long Island; nine have taken steps to retire their mascots or names.

The state has said that school districts that do not comply with the ban by June 30 risk losing state aid or the removal of school officers.

In addition to the amended complaint, Massapequa school officials announced this week that the district has partnered with the Native American Guardians Association, which describes itself as a group of American Indian-enrolled members and tribal descendants who support "Native identifiers in sports and the mainstream."

"Through this partnership, the NAGA has provided its unequivocal support and permission for the Massapequa School District to continue using the Chiefs name and logo," the board said.

O'Hare in his statement wrote, "Massapequa had years to reach out to local Indigenous leaders or engage with the department’s Mascot Advisory Committee to determine whether its Native American team name and mascot would be permissible. Instead, it decided to pursue litigation challenging the state’s regulations, which has been wholly unsuccessful." 

Massapequa’s complaint comes shortly after the U.S. Department of Education announced it had launched an investigation into the state Board of Regents to determine if the threat of withholding funding from schools that continue to use Native American imagery and references violates civil rights laws. The education department’s Office for Civil Rights will assess whether the state is discriminating against Native Americans on the basis of race and national origin by demanding that Massapequa change its long-held Chiefs name and mascot, according to a news release issued at the time.