NEWINGTON - The district is moving toward replacing the Newington High School (NHS) Indians mascot – a change former students and Board of Education members alike say is long overdue.

       Newington won’t be the first town to reconsider its use of the popular team imagery critics say plays off of racist depictions of Native Americans – students in North Haven unsuccessfully petitioned for a similar change a few years ago, and Killingly, more recently, switched their mascot only to revert back just months later.

       "This change will have to happen. It's the right thing to do,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Maureen Brummett during the Board’s virtual special meeting Monday evening.

       It won’t happen until September, when Brummett plans to assemble a committee of community stakeholders – a group her and Board members hope will include NHS alumni – to help determine next steps.

       She says she’s already had conversations both with NHS Principal Terra Tigno and Athletic Director Chris Meyers, who will be tied up throughout the summer with school reopening task force work.

       â€�"The last thing we'd want to do is create something without a fair amount of input from our stakeholders,” Brummett said.

       So for now, the plans are to remove the Indian logo and name wherever it isn’t permanent – such as on the district website.

       Back in January, when state lawmakers were considering legislation that would have stripped districts of grant funding if they refused to change mascots and team names invoking Native American imagery – there are 17 districts in Connecticut that still do – Newington was already replacing their Indian head with an â€�"N” logo on team uniforms and other athletic merchandise.

       "Given the current state of affairs and comments in the public, we've been talking about this, but I think we probably need to be more aggressive in our movement,” said Board Chair Paul Vessella.

       Board members say it started among concerned NHS students, and as the discourse sprawls into the community at large, they anticipate some spirited discussion – there’s sure to be dissent from more nostalgic residents and alumni, as well as those contending that the logo is a symbol of pride.

       "Elephant in the room is, the thing that will be said is that we're trying to erase history. I think it's important for the community to understand we're trying to learn from it,” said Board member Michael Branda. â€�"I don't anybody thinks the mascot was chosen in a malicious way, [but] it’s also important to understand that [right now] we’re not honoring Native Americans on their terms, but on our terms.”

       In 1968, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) took a public stance against team mascots and logos that perpetuated harmful Native American stereotypes. Today, the group is among those still lobbying for name changes at the professional level, such as with the controversial Washington Redskins NFL team.

       â€�"Our school system has educated us about these issues,” said Board member Jessica Weaver, a UCONN graduate and NHS product who recalls taking school trips to meet with Native American groups on Massachusetts reservations. â€�"It's owed to our district to be able to move this conversation forward, because they were part of it for a long time, so I'm grateful it comes full circle."

       Logan Dumas, a former NHS cross country runner who just graduated, says it’s a conversation he’s heard more often in recent years as students he’s spoken to have become increasingly uncomfortable wearing the imagery.

       "I'm grateful it's becoming not just a classroom conversation, but a conversation that should be having throughout the community,” Dumas said. "I completely agree with changing that, but I think involving the community is a very important part as well, because a lot of people who live in Newington went to Newington."

       NHS alumnus and Board member Beth Hutvanger says she remembers discussions about it as far back as her high school days in the early 2000’s.

       "I'm so glad it's being moved to the forefront as a priority,” she said. "What makes me impressed is so many students are involved."