Jefferson School Renaming Webinar
Transcript of Jefferson School Renaming Webinar
➢ Board Resolution and Renaming History
➢ Facilities Naming Process & Timeline
➢ Naming Criteria - Thought Exchange & Poll
➢ Next Steps
Agenda
Resolution No. 20-064 in support of Black Lives Matter - June 10, 2020
RESOLVED, that the Berkeley Unified School Board hereby commits to a renaming process for Jefferson and Washington Elementary Schools, in accordance with our policy and in recognition of the fact that Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and a Framer of the Constitution, was nonetheless an unrepentant slaveholder whose wealth was built on the labor of the enslaved, and who withheld his espoused values of liberty and equality from the hundreds of people of African descent he held and sold into bondage, whose descendants continue to suffer unbearable injustices in a country that has yet to live up to the promises of the Constitution…
School Board Resolution
1907 Rose Street School > Jefferson School2003-2005 School Name Change Process and Board Vote2017-2018 Board Policy Committee and Jefferson School Meeting2017-2018 Le Conte > Sylvia Mendez Renaming2020 Black Lives Matter Board Resolution & Board Process
Jefferson Naming History
1907 2003-2005 2017-2018 2020 1885
Rose Street Jefferson Board Vote AgainstRenaming
New Process Postponed
Renaming
July 24, 1907
Jefferson was a compromise name!
Jefferson School could have been: Rose Street School Hawthorne School Garfield, or Bryant...
1920Berkeley High, Burbank, Columbus, Edison, Emerson, Franklin, Garfield, Hawthorne, Hillside, Jefferson, John Muir, Le Conte, Lincoln, Longfellow, McKinley, Oxford, University. Washington, Whittier, Willard
2020Berkeley Adult School, Berkeley Technology Academy, Berkeley High, Berkeley Arts Magnet at Whittier,
Cragmont, Emerson, Franklin-King-Hopkins CDC, Jefferson, John Muir, ML King, Longfellow, Malcolm X, Oxford, Rosa Parks, Sylvia Mendez, Thousand Oaks, Washington, Willard
BUSD School Names 1878-2020 In 1920, many location-based school names (Dwight Way, San Pablo, Rose Street, Seventh Street) gave way to names honoring Americans of note, as Berkeley established itself as a university town and as possible state capital (1908), with names honoring historical figures, intellectuals, poets, inventors, naturalists, abolitionists. presidents. Shortly after the first woman was elected to the school board in 1909, a school was first named for a woman (Frances E. Willard).
In 2020, of the 21 school names, 7 are place names, 14 honor people, of whom 3 are women (Mendez, Parks, Willard) and 4 are people of color, and the names of two assassinated presidents (Garfield, Lincoln) were eventually replaced by two assassinated civil rights leaders (ML King, Malcolm X).
Steps Timeline
1. Resolution to Begin Renaming Process June 10, 2020
2. Town Halls with Staff and Parent/Guardians June 22/23 2020
3. Board Action to Discontinue Jefferson & Washington July 1, 2020
4. Jefferson Advisory Committee Groundwork Aug 2020
5. Jefferson School Community Meetings Sept-Nov 2020
6. Jefferson Engagement on Top Choices Oct-Nov 2020
7. Jefferson Recommend Top Name(s) to Board Dec 2, 2020
8. Jefferson Celebration Jan 2021
9. Washington Renaming Process Begins Jan or May 2021
Facilities Naming Process BP/AR 7310
Naming Advisory Committee Groundwork
Action Steps Tasks Timeline
Develop Naming Criteria Advisory Committee and Community Meeting Aug-Sept
Solicit Suggestions Create online form, translate, circulate, post September
Prepare Names for ReviewOrganize submissions, provide information on names
September
Winnow to Short List Straw Poll, Winnow to Top 6 Names October
Board Naming Criteria - BP 7310
The Governing Board shall name schools or District facilities in recognition of:
1. Individuals, living or deceased, who have made outstanding contributions to the community;
2. Individuals, living or deceased, who have made contributions of state, national or worldwide significance;
3. The geographic area in which the school or building is located; or
4. Any other entity the Board deems worthy of recognition.
● EDUCATIONAL: exemplifies right to excellent public education.
● ENDURING: likely to stand the test of time
● INSPIRING: meaningful, especially to school children
● LOCAL CONNECTION: ties to our community, history, or BUSD
● OUR VALUES: community, inclusion, social justice, diversity, etc.
● UNDER-REPRESENTED: not a common type of BUSD school name
● UNIQUE: not already widely known or used elsewhere
Committee Proposed Criteria for Name Selection
CRITERIA Example of Good Fit Example of Poor Fit
LOCAL CONNECTION Connects directly to Berkeley location, history, and/or BUSD schools
Rev. Roy Nichols SchoolChiura Obata SchoolCodornices School
Mahatma Gandhi School Barack Obama SchoolHarriet Tubman School
OUR VALUES such as equity, inclusion, social justice, diversity, community
Ida B. Wells School Rachel Carson School Freedom Riders School
Columbus SchoolJoseph Le Conte SchoolJohn Boalt School
REPRESENTATION Reflects a type of individual, place or entity/group that is not well-represented in BUSD school names
Ishi SchoolFrida Kahlo School Fred Korematsu School
Franklin Roosevelt SchoolMedgar Evers SchoolMark Twain School
EDUCATIONAL Exemplifies educational excellence and/or the right to a high quality public education.
Thurgood Marshall SchoolMary Tape SchoolSylvia Mendez School
Billy Martin SchoolManzanita SchoolNorth Berkeley School
UNIQUE Recognizes an individual or entity that is not already widely known
Elinor Carlisle SchoolJudy Heumann SchoolRuth Acty School
Barack Obama SchoolEleanor Roosevelt SchoolDolores Huerta School
INSPIRING, especially to school children. Sylvia Mendez SchoolRuby Bridges School
Public School #12Ada Street School
ENDURING Is likely to last, (even if the school or program changes in the future), or more becomes known about the namesake.
Most of the names above Andy Samberg SchoolDaveed Diggs School
Fred Korematsu Julia Morgan Barack Obama Barbara Lee Barbara Penny-JamesBartolomé de las
Casas
Arcoíris Betty Reid Soskin Carol Sibley Cesar Chavez Chiura Obata Chochenyo
G.W. Carver denise brown Diana L. Paxton Dolores Huerta Dorothea Lange Dreamer
Elinor Carlisle Elizabeth S Martinez Ella Baker Ellen Ochoa Florence McDonald Huichin
Gloria E Anzaldúa Harold Cronkite Harriet Tubman In Lak'Ech Isabel Allende Ishi
Malvina Reynolds Mariposa Mario Molina Mario Savio Mary Tape Marian Diamond
Maudelle Shirek Michelle Obama Mine Okubo Mohammed Ali Octavia Butler Octavio Paz
Ohlone Peralta Pete Seeger Ralph Lazo Rigoberta Menchu Rita Moreno
Roy Nichols Ruby Bridges Ruth Acty Sonia Sotomayor Sylvia Mendez Ursula K. Le Guin
Walter A. Gordon William B. Rumford, SrWilliam
LeidesdorffLisjan Alice Walker Frida Kahlo
Example from LeConte 118 > 20 > 6 School Names
Naming Criteria Poll - Open until Sept 15As the current naming committee sorts through names suggestions, which of these criteria are most important to you? (1-5 rating)
● OUR VALUES
● BERKELEY CONNECTION
● UNIQUE
● EDUCATION CONNECTION
● REPRESENTATION
● INSPIRING
● ENDURING
https://tinyurl.com/name-criteria
Thought Exchange - Open until September 15
★
You will be able to provide specific name suggestions later, using a Google Form that will be available beginning September 17. This question is intended to help the advisory committee understand community priorities as
they sort through naming suggestions.
Finalist Process and Decision
Action Steps Tasks Timeline
Community Review of
Top Names
Information and resources on Top 6 names for community, classroom and home discussion, focus meetings, straw polls.
Oct-Nov
Permissions for UseContact relevant namesakes/ descendants etc re potential use
Oct-Nov
Recommendation and
Board Decision
Summarize community input, discuss, determine top choices, rationale, write and present report to Board
December 2
18
Group 1st 2nd 3rd
NAC straw poll Mendez Acty Tape
PTA meeting Arcoíris Huerta / Ohlone / Mendez
(Parents @ PTA) Arcoíris Huerta Mendez
ELAC Mendez Acty Huerta
PCAD brown Acty / Mendez / Ohlone
TK-2nd Students Huerta Acty/brown Arcoíris
(TK students) Arcoíris Mendez Tape/brown
3rd-5th Students* Huerta Mendez Tape/brown
All Staff Mendez Acty Huerta
(Classified Staff) Mendez Acty brown
(Certificated Staff) Mendez Acty Huerta
((Classroom Teachers)) Mendez Arcoíris Acty
More than One Answer
● CDE Official Change
● New Signage
● District Systems
● School Systems
● Community Notification
● Celebration!
Change and Celebration