Exclusive | Long Island districts Thunderbirds may rebrand as NY seems to buckle on Native American logo ban: Now its not derogatory

A Long Island school district may get to keep a shortened version of its “Thunderbirds” team name that New York State seemed poised to shoot down under its Native American logo ban.Connetquot’s team could rebrand as the “T-Birds” under a proposed deal with the state Board of Regents, which previously had the shortened moniker on a list of banned phrases because it had “vestiges” of the full name.“Last month they wouldn’t allow it…They would not allow T-Birds or any derivative, not even Thunder,” fumed school board trustee Jaclyn Napolitano-Furno, who is against a compromise and argues there was a lack of public input.“For four years, it was derogatory, and now it’s not derogatory,” said Napolitano-Furno, a 1996 grad of the district.The state education department would accept the shortened name in exchange for Connetquot dropping ongoing legal action against the state logo ban, which was enacted in 2023, according to documents reviewed by The Post.The ban could result in the loss of state funding and the dismissal of non-compliant school board members across New York after June 30.Connetquot, which already uses “T-Birds” in part, has been fighting in court alongside other districts such as Massapequa, where officials are trying to preserve the name and logo of the Chiefs.The fight against the ban has gotten a boost from President Trump, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the Department of Justice with threats that the state’s policy may be dissolved because it violated federal policies.“Now, all of a sudden, as a last-ditch effort, the state is willing to try to appease and get people to sign off,” Napolitano-Furno said, adding that a recent poll showed 60% of residents want to keep fighting for the full Thunderbirds name.During litigation, the district, which had been granted an extension from the June 30 deadline, had silently communicated to New York that it had allocated more than $23 million to replace its logo as wel...