Approximately 60 schools across New York have until the end of the school year to not only change their nickname from something non-indigenous but their logos as well.

Schools like Indian River — now known as the Wolves rather than the Warriors — also have to do this on their own dime, on the hook for potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"As challenging as this has been for us personally and professionally, it's also really, really exciting to see the energy behind it and then what that means,” Indian River Superintendent Troy Decker said while showing several new mascot designs that can be used for young kids, older students, athletes, sports and other clubs and organizations throughout the district. Some logos even have some small ‘easter eggs’.

While allowed to keep its district name, Indian River is one of nearly 60 school districts throughout New York required to eliminate all use of indigenous-related mascots and images by the end of this brand new school year or risk losing state aid.

“This has been a really difficult process for our community,” Decker said while praising people for their efforts to make and allow change, including the students who helped pick Wolves as the new mascot.

It’s a mandate from New York that came with no funding to pay for the changes.

“As we started to explore that, we set aside $200,000 for that work,” Decker said.

It's money Decker isn't sure that the district will use in its entirety.

"Now that we have the logo established, we can work with great detail with the turf companies and make some decisions whether they'll be some repainting options, cut out replacement options or a combination thereof,” Decker said of the school’s turf field, which still reads Warriors, while explaining the gym and halls, entrances and more will also need changing.

He says luckily for his school, some upgrades were already in the works and a logo change can just be blended into it.

“Uniforms, gym floors, signage, all of those things were part of a regularly scheduled either construction project or part of a replacement cycle,” he said, adding it helps the district not have to spend all of that $200,000.

However, he also understands not all districts are that fortunate. The hope is the state will eventually pitch in.

“We would love it if New York state stepped in specifically to assist with any of this logo rebranding-based work,” he added.

While Decker says he's extremely proud of the way his students and his staff and the community have embraced this mandate, he's also hoping the history will not be forgotten.

“This might be able to go alongside some of our trophies and other things that help demonstrate the rich history that Indian River has,” he said, pointing to a tile on the wall that is etched with the Warrior logo.

Decker says the entire transformation won’t happen by the end of the year, noting it may take a few years. That doesn’t affect state aid, as long as the work is being done to make the changes.