A school district on Long Island estimates it’ll spend a ludicrous $23 million to erase its “Thunderbirds” team name — as it’s forced to comply with a state ban on Native American logos and imagery.
Connetquot, whose baseball team recently won the Suffolk County championship, has been in quiet communication with the state of New York and expects to entirely phase out its longtime moniker by March of next year, according to documents obtained by The Post.
“The District has invested significant funds in larger-scale athletic costs at the high school and middle schools without the Thunderbirds name or imagery,” Superintendent Joseph Centamore wrote to Dave Frank, assistant commissioner of the state Department of Education.
“These costs included the replacement of turf fields, indoor gym floors and equipment, and other fixtures, as well as repainting projects throughout the schools totaling $23,620,000,” he said in the letter, dated May 6.
Connetquot will also have to spend “an additional $323,470.42” on “scorers’ tables, cheer equipment, wall pads, scoreboards, additional uniforms, and certain banners and signage.”
The district declined to comment.
The Thunderbirds, which use no relevant imagery, shares its name with a Canadian Hockey League team based outside Seattle and an Air Force demonstration squadron that performs at Jones Beach.
The district has been fighting in court since 2023 with fellow Native American-named districts on Long Island, including Massapequa, Wantagh and Wyandanch.
However, a chief justice dismissed the suit in March, but only Massapequa amended its complaint to keep the fight going.
President Trump intervened in April, declaring “LONG LIVE THE MASSAPEQUA CHIEFS!” and ordered Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to investigate the issue at a national level.
Despite the presidential support, Centamore’s recent letter requested an extension beyond the June 30 deadline set by the Board of Regents to comply with the state ban.
He added that the school has been rebranding for the past five years and “has completed at least 75% of the necessary work for compliance.”
The district was granted a year’s extension last week.
On paper, Wantagh is also backing off and allocated a staggering $418,000 “for the purpose of working on mascot-related projects,” according to a deadline extension request Superintendent John C. McNamara sent to Frank on April 24.
The true cost will be closer to $700,000 for Wantagh, which has 2,850 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, according to a representative.
“Simultaneously, the district remains committed to preserving our ‘Warrior’ name,” McNamara and his board wrote in a recent community letter after their 2026 extension was recently approved.
“The extension granted to our district is significant as it allows us more time not only for thoughtful implementation if needed, but also for the legal proceedings concerning our appeal to reach a resolution.”
Chief concern
The fight continues for Massapequa and its Chiefs team, with McMahon recently pledging federal intervention and calling the ban a civil rights issue because it singles out Native American culture.
Massapequa is expecting to have to pay roughly $1 million if it’s forced to rebrand as part of the ban, which threatened schools by saying those who don’t comply would face loss of state funding and other sanctions.
The district’s homegrown Harvard lawyer, one-time Chief Oliver Roberts, is now sending a letter to New York’s Indigenous Mascot Advisory Group, demanding an extension for Massapequa.
Roberts wrote that the state is “compelled to extend its enforcement deadlines” on behalf of McMahon’s federal findings that fall under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
“The District cannot, under any circumstances, lawfully engage in discriminatory conduct against Indigenous individuals, groups, students, employees, or residents, “he wrote.
“Nor can it erase or suppress Indigenous cultural identity at the direction of the Regents,” Roberts added, signing the letter, “Once a Chief, always a Chief.”
Frank responded last week to the federal government’s discriminatory findings — and threat to involve the Justice Department — in a letter that suggests expanding the ban to all ethnic team names the state deems offensive.
“That’s their workaround … we’ve demonstrated that this regulation was not a good idea,” Massapequa School Board President Kerry Wachter told The Post at a “Save The Chiefs” rally Saturday.
“Now you’re wanting to put another unfunded mandate on top of all these districts who are just barely making it, just to not give Massapequa the win?”
