Burlingame schools set to outline renaming policy

A year ago, Sari McConnell, a district parent and former president of the Burlingame Community Education Foundation, petitioned for the district to rename Burlingame Intermediate School after the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

McConnell argued that Ginsburg’s career fighting for gender equity, before being named to the Supreme Court, was reason enough to honor her by making her a candidate for replacing the name of the middle school. A petition, signed by 1,600 people, about one-third of which were affiliated with the district, was presented as proof there was support or the change.

The current policy permits facilities to be named after people, living or dead, who have made significant contributions to the nation or world but does not specify the process for naming or renaming a facility other than requiring a public hearing to be held. Depending on the size of the facility, the district estimates renaming structures could cost between $75,000 and $250,000 for signs and other campus updates, Superintendent Chris Mount-Benites said.

But officials shared concerns renaming one campus could spiral into a larger discussion, pointing to the controversy the San Francisco Unified School District ignited when engaging in a similar discussion. Their process spanned about two years and led to substantial community pushback that ultimately stalled the renaming process and led to recall campaigns of multiple trustees.

Interested in taking a more measured approach to the request, trustees opted to review their policy, which hasn’t been updated in years.

Following the board’s direction, Mount-Benites presented the board with a proposed policy inspired by similar requirements in other districts that contained three triggers for renaming a district facility. The first, considered the easiest to achieve, would be a three-member vote by the board.

The second trigger would occur if a poll or survey of all district voters showed at least 66% support for the renaming along with at least 85% of families directly served by the district and 85% of faculty. The third option would move forward with the renaming process if at least 95% of households served by the district and 95% of faculty supported the move.

Professional polling can be expensive, costing between $20,000 and $40,000, Mount-Benites said. However, trustees agreed they’d like to see outreach performed and data collected by a professional agency rather than from a less formal platform like Change.org.

Trustees decided to forgo the third option, arguing voters own district facilities, as taxpayers, and should have a say in future changes. Trustees also agreed to lower polling thresholds needed to trigger a renaming, though, from 85% to 80% in option 2, making the target easier to reach.

“There’s a lot of pride in a lot of the people who went to school here many years ago who still live around here and it means something to them and they would want to be a part of this process even though they’re not a parent involved in the school,” Trustee Dan Devoy said.

Still concerned renaming one campus would snowball into a larger discussion, Trustee Lisa Mudd suggested the policy remove the potential that buildings be named after people. Mudd previously supported McConnell’s proposal and signed the petition to rename Burlingame Intermediate after Ginsburg but has since had a change of heart.

Mudd said naming one building after a woman while six school buildings are named after men would be a “Band-Aid” on the issue, leading to all building names needing to be changed. Board President Florence Wong has shared similar concerns, noting people are inherently flawed.

Ultimately, trustees agreed the option should remain given the amount of support for naming buildings after people and the calls to even the representation for underrepresented groups.

“I want to acknowledge the feedback that we’ve all received from folks that feel strongly about [renaming a building], which started with one individual but now seems to be a broader number of worthy women that schools can be named after. So, I have some concern about having a policy expressly not allowing that to happen,” Trustee Doug Brown said. “Whether or not these thresholds are met, who knows, but I would have some concern about that.”