By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The Board of Education on Thursday officially approved the Spartan as the Massena Central School District's new logo, which will now be used for sports teams instead of the letter M.

The district is keeping the name Red Raiders.

The change came on the heels of racial tensions at the high school.

"Originally there was a comment that was made, a racial comment, that made Native American students come to us with concerns about a mascot," high school principal Sarah Boyce told the Board of Education on Thursday.

Superintendent Pat Brady said although he can't be 100 percent sure, he is certain enough that the name Red Raiders was not conceived in a racial context to support the decision to keep the name.

He said he first saw the name in a 1934 newspaper article, prior to the first instance he found of the former Indian head being used as the school logo.

"Back them the teams names were generally by color. Massena Red and Blue, Ogdensburg Blue and White. The article said the team is dubbed the Red Raiders of the North Country based on their scarlet uniform," Brady said. "We did go through old yearbooks, 1934 yearbook has no Native head in it. There's no 1935 or 1936 (yearbooks) ... and it (Native head logo) comes up in 1937."

He said he met with some leaders from the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council, who expressed different opinions on the term Red Raiders but ultimately haven't said much on the issue.

"I met with tribal leaders and had discussions with them. They had different options on what the 'Red' meant," Brady said. "Not all the leaders were there, they didn't all speak for each other. I felt we did get a perspective there.

"The question of the Red Raiders, we really have not heard from the tribe on that issue."

Tribal Council did not immediately return a request for comment.

Brady said they had trouble finding specifics on the Indian head logo's origin.

"There's not a history of that logo that I or anyone else can provide to us. We've had discussions with the museum, the library," Brady said, adding that no one has come forward with information that the term "Red" in Red Raiders was originally intended as a racial slur.

The former “Indian Chief” mascot was removed in 2004, and the district underwent a rebrand, resulting in the capital “M” logo, which was the logo until Thursday. However, the former image was still being used in some circles. The Native image had been removed due to the perception that it was demeaning to Native American students, who make up approximately 10 percent of the district’s student population, according to a prior announcement from the district.

The Mascot Committee, which helped choose the logo, included Boyce, high school assistant principal Shane Halladay, varsity hockey coach Mike Trimboli, junior guidance counselor Keri Zaza, Jefferson elementary literacy teacher Siera Thomas, high school guidance counselor Robert Jordan, and high school seniors Tyler Bacon, Lexis Jacobs and Mikka Baxter. Thomas teachers reading to Native American students. Several of the Mascot Committee members are also on the School Climate Committee.

"That was a pretty good representation of our student body. I really like it. It's sharp, it's a sharp image," Brady said.

Students in grades six through 12 participated in two votes, one to choose the type of mascot and a second to choose from three logo variations.

The logo was created by a Hong Kong-based crowdsourced site called 48hourlogo. The district posted what they wanted, and artists from anywhere in the world could log on and make a submission. They were able to communicate with the artist to make adjustments to their liking, said Mike Trimboli, who was part of the Mascot Committee. He is the Red Raiders varsity hockey coach.

"The artist was extremely, extremely helpful," Trimboli said. "Further down the road here, we'd like to explore the option of having a standalone mascot costume to utilize, and this shield (part of the logo) could be incorporated in that."

Trimboli said they have bought all the rights to the logo from the creator. Brady said it is not trademarked, which means that local groups affiliated with the district will not have to pay to use the image.

Bacon, a student member of the Mascot Committee, was at the meeting and raved about the new logo.

"That looks pretty frickin' awesome. I could see myself being a mascot, running around," Bacon said.