The San Francisco Board of Education is abandoning its plan to rename schools named after historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln and George Washington until students and faculty can return to class, board commissioner Gabriela Lopez said Sunday evening.
“I also recognize and take responsibility for mistakes made in renaming buildings. We need to slow down and provide more opportunities for community input – that can’t happen until after our schools are back in person,” Lopez wrote. Twitter
San Francisco’s education leaders faced backlash as they focused on renaming schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. Lopez’s announcement came days after parents began spreading a petition to recall Lopez, Vice President Alison Collins and Commissioner Faauuga Moliga for politicizing education, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
CA GOVERNOR HOPEFUL FAULCONER ‘APPALLED’ BY OAKLEY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS MOCKERY OR PARENTS
“We are parents, not politicians, and we intend to stay that way,” organizer Siva Raj told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We are committed to ensuring that San Francisco’s public schools can provide quality education to every child in the city.”
They hope to get 70,000 signatures to get a recall on the ballot.
A plaque for Roosevelt Middle School is on display outside the school in San Francisco on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (AP Photo / Haven Daley)
“While talking to parents, I’ve heard how hard it is to worry about your child stopping learning and their struggles to stay motivated in distance learning,” Lopez said in a statement. “We are negotiating to get the work done on the return to personal learning and I am committed to working with city partners to get the vaccinations, tests and other resources we need.”
Lopez said she was “very grateful” for the “anti-racist” work of the nomination committee.
“Renaming the school … was a process that started in 2018 with a timeline that did not anticipate a pandemic,” she said in a statement.
California Governor Kevin Faulconer, hopeful, seized the San Francisco school last week renaming the fiasco.
Faulconer has made reopening schools an important part of his campaign. On Wednesday, Faulconer held a press conference outside Abraham Lincoln High School, one of 44 schools in San Francisco that have wanted to be renamed in recent months due to alleged ties to white supremacy. Schools named after Presidents George Washington, William McKinley, James Garfield, James Monroe and Herbert Hoover also made the chopping block.
“The San Francisco school board has prioritized removing the name outside of this school over the education that should take place within this school. President Lincoln should be celebrated, not canceled. It’s outrageous to lose Lincoln and Washington’s name. hit it, ”Faulconer said.
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Faulconer’s press conference came a day after the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) postponed planned talks about reopening classrooms safely.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and Peter Aitken contributed to this report.