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Last updated on Thursday, June 19, 2014
(UNDATED) - It doesn’t sound as if schools in Indiana that still use the Redskins nickname are in any hurry to change it.
The use of Redskins has been criticized by Native American groups and others for many years, and this week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled the trademark used by the Washington Redskins football team. A statement from the office read that "a substantial composite of Native Americans found the term Redskins to be offensive." The board cannot ban the team from using the nickname, however, and the team has said it will appeal the decision.
Four schools in Indiana continue to use Redskins as a nickname or mascot; Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, North Side High in Fort Wayne, Knox High School and Goshen High School.
"I wouldn't say there's any plans on the horizon to change that mascot name or to change the logo," said Krista Stockman with Fort Wayne Community Schools on the use of Redskins at Northside. "There was one person (recently) who came before the board asking them to reconsider, and the board took no action. That's really the last we have heard of it from the community."
North Side has used the Redskins name for at least seven decades, Stockman said. Knox has used it for almost a century, as long as there have been sports teams at the school which opened in the 1890's.
"At this point, there has been no conversation about changing it at all," said A.J. Gappa, superintendent of Knox Community Schools.
Manual High School, formerly an Indianapolis Public School, is currently operated by Charter Schools USA - it was one of the IPS schools taken over by the state in 2012, and the State Board of Education later handed over those schools to Mayor Greg Ballard's office. However, CSUSA says it does not have jurisdiction over the Redskins nickname.
"It's an IPS issue. We just manage the school," said CSUSA spokeswoman Colleen Reynolds. IPS referred questions back to CSUSA, saying it no longer had any say on matters related to the school.
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