Budget proposal would help schools drop race-based mascots
March 3, 2021 9:23AM CST
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed budget includes $400,000 to help local school districts that still have race-based mascots transition to another nickname. In Wisconsin, officials say more than two dozen schools still have Native American mascots.
The proposal would create a program that would help schools with the process through grants. The Weyauwega-Fremont School District stopped using the nickname “Indians” internally years ago, and phased out its headdress logo.
But it wasn’t until 2020 that the district’s board of education voted to officially retire the mascot. The Weyauwega-Fremont Board of Education approved the name change to “Warhawks” last month.