State Superintendent Brian Whiston does not have authority to withhold state aid from school districts with Native American mascots or logos, according to a legal opinion issued Thursday by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

The opinion, addressed to Whitson and state Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw Township, says the state superintendent has "broad authority" under Michigan's Revised School Code and the State School Aid Act. But neither act authorizes him to "withhold funding or otherwise reduce state school aid provided to a school district based on its use of a particular mascot or logo."

At the March State Board of Education meeting, Whiston said he requested the opinion, and that -- if he had authority to do so -- he would consider fining districts that refuse to abandon mascots that are "generally recognized" as offensive.

His request came after members of Michigan's Native American community expressed anger over a decision by the Paw Paw Public Schools Board of Education to keep the district's Redskins mascot and logo. Opponents say the mascot is degrading and culturally insensitive.

"In accepting this Attorney General opinion, the State Superintendent still encourages school districts that have Native American mascots and logos to use the resources available in Michigan's Native American Heritage Fund to defray the costs of changing their school mascot name, symbol or image that depicts or refers to an American Indian tribe, individual, custom, or tradition," Michigan Department of Education spokesman Martin Ackley said in a statement.

Kelly, who also requested the opinion, said he was pleased with Schuette's judgement, because he doesn't see the use of Native American mascots and logos as problematic.

"I think there's very few people that are offended by this," he said. "Many in these communities feel very strongly about these mascots, and in fact look at it as honorable use of these images rather than disparaging."

The School Aid Act spells out specific actions that would result in a district forfeiting state aid, including failing to meet the required minimum hours and days of per pupil instruction, failing to comply with rules related to sex education or purchasing, leasing, or renting a car for board members, according to Schuette's opinion.

And because the act includes "specific circumstances that allow for the withholding or forfeiture of state aid," no other circumstances "may be used as a basis for the withholding or forfeiture of state aid from a school district," the opinion says.

Whiston, during the March state board meeting, said if the attorney general issued an opinion stating that he lacked authority to withhold funding from school districts that keep their Native American mascots, he could ask the state Legislature to give him such authority.

But Kelly said he's not "ready to take him up on" such an approach.

Complaints over Native American mascots and logos stretch back years in Michigan.

In 2003, the State Board adopted a resolution 'strongly recommending' the school districts eliminate Native American mascots, nicknames, logos and fight songs. The resolution was reaffirmed by the board in 2010, but noted that the issue should be addressed at the local level.

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights filed a complaint in 2013 with the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of Native American students who felt the use of American Indian mascots and logos amounted to discrimination. That complaint, however, was "dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence that the use of" such logos "created a racially hostile environment," according to Schuette's opinion.

Residents on both sides of the debate reacted strongly to the opinion.

Kim Jones, a Paw Paw resident and vocal supporter of keeping the Redskins logo, said she's "very excited" about the judgement, because "now maybe we can put" the issue "to rest."

"We use it with respect," Jones said of the logo. "We have never disrespected or said anything derogatory toward the Redskins."

But Linda Cypret-Kilbourne, a Marshall resident and co-founder of the Michigan Coalition Against Racism in sports and media, said she was "very disappointed," and it's "boggling" to her that such mascots are allowed.

"When the schools use the Native American spiritual leader logos to represent their schools, they are disrespecting our religious leaders," she said. "You would not do that for any other religion."