Peru defenders converge on Saranac Lake running back Ben Munn during a game on Oct. 13, 2018 on the Red Storm’s home field. Peru’s sports teams will no longer be known as the Indians after a decision made by its school board Tuesday. (Enterprise file photo — Lou Reuter)

PERU — Peru Central School’s athletic teams will no longer go by the name Indians.

The Peru school board elected to retire the mascot name Tuesday.

Peru Central School District Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Palmer said the process was not long.

“At Tuesday night’s board meeting, (the board) wanted to discuss it, and during that discussion, the board wanted to take action and wanted the Indians mascot to be removed from Peru Central School District,” Palmer said.

The board made the decision to cease the present use of mascot name Indians in anything associated with Peru, leaving Palmer to develop a task force in the near future to help determine a new mascot.

“We will work through the process,” Palmer said. “There is no limitation on what we can be. We will still try and keep the values and traditions of Peru, but moving forward, the word Indian and anything associated with that mascot of Indian will be taken off of (anything associated with) Peru.”

The task force will be comprised of community members, alumni and alumna, faculty, staff, and school administrators.

Peru is a member of Section VII and the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference, the same league that athletic teams from the Saranac Lake Central School District compete in.

Saranac Lake dropped its Redskins mascot in 2001 after the district received pressure from within the community, and eventually changed it to the Red Storm.

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Enterprise Senior Sports Writer Lou Reuter contributed to this report.