Twain Harte School Drops Mascot In Response To New State Rules

Published Aug 26, 2026 10:10 am

Twain Harte School logo

Twain Harte, CA — Previously known as the Twain Harte Braves, the district dropped its mascot in response to a new state law that took effect on July 1st.

Assembly Bill 3074 was an expansion of the California Racial Mascots Act. It bans California public schools from using specific Native American terms, tribal leader titles, and related imagery as school names, team names, or mascots.

The only exceptions are if schools are operated by a federally recognized tribe or they receive written consent from a federally recognized tribe.

Central Sierra Broadcasting reached out to Twain Harte School Superintendent/Principal Gabe Wingo, who explained, “This past May the Twain Harte School District board of trustees adopted a resolution to retire the ‘Braves’ mascot and operate as Twain Harte School with no official mascot. The district was unsuccessful in attempts to gain tribal approval to continue using the Braves mascot. The district has revised the school logo, removing the Braves terminology and image.”

Over the summer, the school began taking down items with the former logo in several areas of the campus. Wingo noted that the district will continue the efforts in accordance with the state law.

The new Twain Harte logo, effective this school year, is featured in the image box.

The lead authors of AB 3074 were Democrats James Ramos (the first California Native American State lawmaker) and Pilar Schiavo of Southern California (who is a Sonora High graduate). It aimed to remove mascots deemed offensive and support inclusivity.

It was approved by lawmakers in 2024 and took effect two years later (July 1, 2026). At the time, the vote in the Senate was 36-1 (with three Senators not voting). Mother Lode Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil voted in support. It passed in the Assembly 62-0 with 18 members not voting. Regional Assemblyman Heath Flora and then Mother Lode Assemblyman Jim Patterson were among those who didn’t vote.