San Francisco school board to vote on renaming of 44 schools for name change

San Francisco school board is stuck with the idea of changing the names of 44 schools which according to them are linked to racism, sexism, and other injustices. The critics have termed this move to be ill-activism and has invited litigation against the school board.

Multiple Lawsuits against the board included the one from City Hall and the Mayor to pressure the board to reopen schools and classroom more quickly. Another was filed by Paul Scott, which alleges that board’s decision violated California’s open meeting law.

Parents and students are against the decision of the board for some of its targeted schools. The board arrived to this decision just a couple of months back when the schools were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Mayor of San Francisco called it to be “offensive and completely unacceptable” as the board is worried about names instead of getting the students back in their classroom.

The schools which targeted are named after some of the historic figures including Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Robert Louis Stevenson, Thomas Jefferson and Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein Elementary has been included in the list because during her term as Mayor in 1984, she had initially switched a vandalized Confederate Flag that was part of longstanding outside City Hall.

While there is no timetable for middle and high school students, the elementary crowd is expected to return this month after a year of distance learning. With all the critics, board president Gabriela Lopez said that the process will be stopped until all the kids are back in school.

Voting is set to take place on Tuesday scheduled by the board in order to postpone this process till all the students have returned to in-person learning.