KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officials with the Kansas State School Board of Education signed off Thursday on recommendations to encourage schools state-wide to retire Indian-theme mascots.
It received the recommendations from the Kansas Advisory Council for Indigenous Education.
The board asked that K-12, non-tribal schools in Kansas retire the mascots as soon as possible, but no longer than within the next three to five years.
If a district chooses to not follow the recommendations, its accreditation will not be impacted.
“We are really grateful to everyone who put in work to make this happen — it’s been a long time coming. We’re glad the Board of Education took those steps," the Kansas City Indian Center said in a statement.
Last year, Shawnee Mission North High School renamed its mascot to the Bison.
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