SOUTH WAYNE - The Black Hawk school district might no longer be represented by the "Warriors" logo and mascot if a bill under consideration in the state Assembly is eventually signed into law.
The district is one of the 36 Wisconsin schools that could be affected by a bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Soletski, D-Green Bay, which would require schools to drop Indian-based mascots and logos or face possible fines.
Black Hawk school Superintendent Charles McNulty said his school would follow the law.
"From what I understand, if there is a complaint in regard to the logo, we'll work with any community member - we're open to talk to anyone," he said.
The new law, AB 35, is ready to be approved by the Assembly, but a vote was delayed Tuesday, when Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, objected to a final reading, leaving today as the earliest the Assembly can take up the bill again.
A spokesperson in Nass' office Wednesday said the move was a tactic to stall and kill the bill.
Mike Mikalsen, a research assistant for Nass, said the Assemblyman has been an opponent of the bill since its beginnings in Feb. 2009.
"DPI (Department of Public Instruction) already has policy in place, which it can use," Mikalsen said. "AB 35 takes the process that is already in place and changes the process."
Challenges to the use of tribal names and references to American Indians has been happening since the mid-1990s, and in Wisconsin more than 40 schools have changed their Indian identities, out of the possible 80 to 90 schools, he said.
"Tribes are better off to continue to work community-by-community, in positive ways, to get the changes they want, and not by state orders forcing the changes," Mikalsen said.
Assembly passed three amendments to the bill Tuesday.
One amendment moves the determination of whether a logo's use is race-based or ambiguous to the state superintendent, followed by a hearing in which the burden of proof is on the school board if the name, logo or mascot is determined to be race-based. The determination could be on the complainant, if it is deemed ambiguous.
Another change allows the state superintendent to choose not to investigate if a federally recognized tribe has granted a school district permission to refer to or depict the tribe. A third amendment bars a student attending a public school in a nonresident school district from objecting to the use of a race-based nickname of that nonresident school.
Mikalsen said there is a growing opposition on the Democratic side over the bill and some tribes supporting the original bill are not happy about the amendments.
Nass is now ready to object to "immediate messaging" of the bill to the Senate, should the bill pass. Immediate messaging would speed up the days-long process of getting the bill to the Senate for a vote.
The end of the legislative session is scheduled for April 22.
Regardless of the bill's fate, McNulty said Black Hawk schools' name is more of a sign of respect.
"Black Hawk position is respectful toward the Native American legacy; it's part of the culture and of the legacy of this area," he said.
The district is one of the 36 Wisconsin schools that could be affected by a bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Soletski, D-Green Bay, which would require schools to drop Indian-based mascots and logos or face possible fines.
Black Hawk school Superintendent Charles McNulty said his school would follow the law.
"From what I understand, if there is a complaint in regard to the logo, we'll work with any community member - we're open to talk to anyone," he said.
The new law, AB 35, is ready to be approved by the Assembly, but a vote was delayed Tuesday, when Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, objected to a final reading, leaving today as the earliest the Assembly can take up the bill again.
A spokesperson in Nass' office Wednesday said the move was a tactic to stall and kill the bill.
Mike Mikalsen, a research assistant for Nass, said the Assemblyman has been an opponent of the bill since its beginnings in Feb. 2009.
"DPI (Department of Public Instruction) already has policy in place, which it can use," Mikalsen said. "AB 35 takes the process that is already in place and changes the process."
Challenges to the use of tribal names and references to American Indians has been happening since the mid-1990s, and in Wisconsin more than 40 schools have changed their Indian identities, out of the possible 80 to 90 schools, he said.
"Tribes are better off to continue to work community-by-community, in positive ways, to get the changes they want, and not by state orders forcing the changes," Mikalsen said.
Assembly passed three amendments to the bill Tuesday.
One amendment moves the determination of whether a logo's use is race-based or ambiguous to the state superintendent, followed by a hearing in which the burden of proof is on the school board if the name, logo or mascot is determined to be race-based. The determination could be on the complainant, if it is deemed ambiguous.
Another change allows the state superintendent to choose not to investigate if a federally recognized tribe has granted a school district permission to refer to or depict the tribe. A third amendment bars a student attending a public school in a nonresident school district from objecting to the use of a race-based nickname of that nonresident school.
Mikalsen said there is a growing opposition on the Democratic side over the bill and some tribes supporting the original bill are not happy about the amendments.
Nass is now ready to object to "immediate messaging" of the bill to the Senate, should the bill pass. Immediate messaging would speed up the days-long process of getting the bill to the Senate for a vote.
The end of the legislative session is scheduled for April 22.
Regardless of the bill's fate, McNulty said Black Hawk schools' name is more of a sign of respect.
"Black Hawk position is respectful toward the Native American legacy; it's part of the culture and of the legacy of this area," he said.