Lincoln, Washington, Muir and Garfield are just four of 44 names that will be stripped from San Francisco schools as part of a controversial renaming process.
The San Francisco Unified School District’s Board of Education voted 6-1 late Tuesday in favor of changing school names associated with historical figures that were found to be problematic. The vote came after an advisory committee identified schools it said were named after people linked to exploitation and slavery, among other things.
Critics complained the process didn't involve input from historians.
Some of the callers to Tuesday’s marathon meeting were upset that Senator Dianne Feinstein was included in that list because of the controversy over a display of flags at City Hall when she was mayor.
"Dianne Feinstein came to speak in my class when I went to school when she was mayor and she really inspired me to be able to do anything…and now my daughter is a student at Dianne Feinstein Elementary," one parent explained.
Others, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, argue now is not the time to be focusing on renaming schools.
"This is an important conversation to have, and one that we should involve our communities, our families, and our students," Breed said in a statement. "What I cannot understand is why the School Board is advancing a plan to have all these schools renamed by April, when there isn’t a plan to have our kids back in the classroom by then. Our students are suffering, and we should be talking about getting them in classrooms, getting them mental health support, and getting them the resources they need in this challenging time."
Breed went on to say she believed "our children should be a part of the conversation around the renaming of their schools."
"Even in these hard times, when reopening is at the forefront of every parent’s mind, I think it’s important to do the right thing," said Nyugen Louie, a parent at Junipero Serra Elementary School. "Due to Junipero Serra’s role in the physical and cultural genocide of the indigenous peoples of California. We’re still fighting and resisting to this day. We should not honor him with the name of our elementary school."
There is a growing list of more than 22 new name nominations, and a survey of guardians, teachers and students found more than 80 percent were in favor of changing the name.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the renaming process could cost at least $1 million to rename the sites.
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