A controversial decision to rename 44 public schools in San Francisco has been reversed by the city's Board of Education with a plan to "revisit" the proposal once students are back in school five days a week.
The move came after a panel identified dozens of schools it found were named for historical figures associated with slavery and oppression, among other things. But after a lawsuit was filed against the district to stop the renaming process, commissioners on Tuesday voted in favor of a resolution to rescind the decision and reassess the matter only after students have returned to schools for in-person instruction five days a week.
Schools named after Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were included in the group. Critics, including Mayor London Breed, various national figures and then-President Donald Trump, blasted the decision.
Breed labeled it a waste of time during the coronavirus pandemic.
Many parents sided with Breed in thinking that commissioners' focus should instead be on getting students back in school, an issue that was also addressed on Tuesday. In a unanimous vote, the Board of Education pledged to reopen schools to all students for full time in-person learning at the start of the 2021-2022 academic year.
The first group of mostly younger kids is returning to classrooms on Monday.
Remote learning will remain an option for students who choose not to return for medical, social or academic reasons.
But renaming schools and in-classroom learning were not the only issues on the table. Tuesday's meeting was the first since Commissioner Alison Collins sued her colleagues and the district for $87 million for removing her as vice president and dismissing her from committee assignments.
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