A Brentwood dad and NAACP leader is suing the school district over its new mascot. The district is now known as the Spartans after the state ordered schools to stop using Native American imagery. "I can't fathom, nor entertain or tolerate the glorification of any group who were proud violent enslavers of others," said William Moss, who filed the lawsuit. Moss filed the lawsuit, claiming the racial and gender inequality that stems from the Spartans is deeply problematic. He also says there was no due process in selecting the mascot. "Why in an era of constitutional equal protections, why would a school district purposefully choose to show racial glorification, to show racial inequality, in plain sight," said Moss. The Spartans were a warrior society in Ancient Greece. One of his complaints against the district choosing this for a mascot is that they excluded women from the military. Moss's lawsuit also claims Spartans enslaved indigenous people and are a symbol of white supremacy. "In this day and age, we should not purposefully showing children that discrimination against gender or enslaving people is ok," said Moss. The district had no comment on this specific lawsuit. But it released a statement from Superintendent of Schools Wanda Ortiz-Rivera: "The district complied with New York State Education Department regulations, which required all school districts to eliminate the use of Indigenous-themed mascots, team names, and imagery. In response, the Board of Education led an inclusive process that involved input from students, staff, and the broader community. This process ultimately resulted in the selection of the Spartans as our new mascot. The Board officially approved the resolution on November 21, 2024." The district adopted the change of mascot in November 2024. It was forced to make a change after the state's ban on Native American mascots. "I get it, Native Americans. I understand how sensitive the topic is. I also understand the sensitivity of the lawsuit as well. I hope we get to a common ground," said Latisha John, a Brentwood alumna. The district says there were several phases of community input to decide on the new mascot, and Spartans was selected after getting the most votes from the community. Moss says he went to the Board of Education multiple times to voice his concerns over the use of the Spartans as a mascot.