The renaming of Dianne Feinstein Elementary School in San Francisco is on hold after public outcry over a school board plan to rename 44 public schools brought unwelcome attention, including local opposition from parents and negative international headlines.
In an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle this week, school board president Gabriela López said the debate has been “distracting” in light of the pressing need to reopen schools.
“We recognize we need to slow down,” she said in the statement, published Sunday. “And we need to provide more opportunities for community input.”
López praised the anti-racist work of the volunteer committee but also said “mistakes were made” in the process. She said the board would instead focus on reopening, a demand voiced in some of the criticisms of the school board’s actions. Her statement did not address decisions or rationales behind specific school name changes.
San Francisco Pauses School Renamings to Focus on Returning Students to Classrooms
A plan to rename schools that honored people like Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson was put on hold after criticism of the plan and, particularly, its timing amid the pandemic.
Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, one of the 44 schools that were slated to be renamed by April.Credit.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Published Feb. 23, 2021Updated April 5, 2021
Amid substantial pushback, the head of the San Francisco Board of Education said this week that the board was pausing plans to purge the district of school names that it said were linked to racism, sexism or slavery until after it reopened schools for in-person learning.
San Francisco school board halts plan to rename 44 schools with names linked to slavery and oppression washingtonexaminer.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonexaminer.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.