July 14, 2020
Message from Canisteo-Greenwood School Superintendent Crook:
As you have seen in the media, the Washington NFL team announced that they will be changing their name. Historically, when the Redskins mascot is in national headlines, the Canisteo-Greenwood mascot comes to light locally and we begin to see individuals reaching out and asking us to change our mascot. Within the past week, we have received several inquiries through email (including the Wall Street Journal), Facebook messages, and phone calls. In addition to individuals reaching out to us, a bill was proposed in the New York State Senate last week that would ban state funding from schools that had mascots that “derived from a specific race or ethnicity”.
The last attempt of a name change 7 years ago did not go well. Community members were not involved in any initial conversations, or any of the process. At that time, the Board of Education promised that if the district were to ever have conversations again about the mascot, the community would be involved. That time may be now.
Once we see what the fall may bring us in terms of fall sports and reopening and if there are going to be any large financial cuts to our budget, it is then that we will form a committee to look at our mascot. Please know that the formation of a committee does not commit to changing the name, but commits to having a conversation. The committee would come to a consensus and make a recommendation to the Board of Education on whether or not to change the name.
Thomas J. Crook
Superintendent
