Jefferson School

Renaming Webinar

September 11-15, 2020

➢ 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

Lessons Learned from Le Conte > Sylvia Mendez Renaming

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

Many Great Stories and Choices

to be Discovered!

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

School Community Webinar:Thursday, September 17

at 7:00 pm as part of PTA meeting

Opening the Naming Suggestions Window!

● Naming Advisory Committee will Reflect on Criteria

● Google Form for Suggestions open Sept 17-27

● Students Welcome

● Q & A

● Recorded and Available Afterward