Foxborough School Committee Rescinds 2023 Native American Imagery Ban, Cites Federal Ruling

FOXBOROUGH -- March 4, 2026, Foxborough School Committee votes to rescind its ban on Native American imagery, citing federal civil rights ruling. The committee voted 5-0 at its March 4 meeting to repeal a 2023 rule that had prohibited Native American imagery on school mascots, symbols, and logos, after the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights ruled that similar bans in New York violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One member framed the vote in financial terms: "We do rely on a lot of federal funding, and we do not want to jeopardize that funding." The committee also approved phased tuition increases of 2.5 percent in FY27, 2.5 percent in FY28, and 3 percent in FY29 for both the preschool and extended day programs, which Director of Finance Karen Sheridan said operate at annual losses masked by accumulated reserves and charge rates well below surrounding towns. The committee further revised its FY27 capital improvement plan to add $100,000 for connecting Taylor Elementary School to the municipal sewer, funded from DPW project surplus funds, and changed the funding source for a $1 million Taylor School renovation component from project carry-overs to free cash due to bonding restrictions. Total donations accepted at the meeting reached $8,388.86, including a $5,000 Gerald Roy Memorial Scholarship endowment from the Robert and Teresa Dreyfus Giving Account Fund.