The citizens advisory committee held focused discussions comparing the school namesakes to the District assurances. They utilized the following questions for each assurance:

🔹 Safety: Is this namesake representative of a person who supported or undermined the physical and/or social emotional safety among those they encountered?

🔹 Student-Centered: Is this namesake representative of a person who appreciated the individual differences — needs and strengths — of those they encountered?

🔹 Future Ready: Is this namesake representative of a person who supports or undermines the positive views and practices Wiseburn strives to teach students to successfully function in our ever-changing world?

🔹 Community and Collaboration (DEI): Is this namesake representative of a person who supports or undermines efforts for everyone in a community to be heard, be respected, and feel seen? Does this namesake promote or inhibit a feeling of pride?

🔹 Organizational Strength: How does this namesake support or undermine the assertions for what WUSD stands for?

As they held discussions in committee meetings, information was shared widely with the community and neighborhood associations, through social media, emails, flyers, and an informational hub at http://wiseburn.org/renaming. Responses from the community were actively requested throughout the process via a survey and open feedback form. All of the feedback and information gathered was shared regularly with the WUSD School Board and community during public school board meetings.

In their decision to adopt the resolution to rename the rest of the TK-8 schools, the WUSD School Board considered all feedback against the District mission and assurances, while recognizing that current students are the ones most impacted by school renaming as well as the harm that irreconcilable school names can cause. That the process began with student activism and that the majority of current students who participated in the survey voted in favor of renaming the schools was weighed heavily.

Additionally, Board Members and District leadership emphasized that the changing of namesakes at WUSD school sites does not change the memories, accolades, great reputation, and excellence of our schools, nor does it diminish the work of staff, students, and the greater school community. The District will explore further opportunities to engage with and honor the rich educational history and mission of the school district, which was founded in 1896.

”This was an incredibly challenging decision, and we took significant time to ensure we considered perspectives from all of our stakeholders before reaching a decision,” said Dr. Goldman. “While we can continue to respect the history of and the emotional connections forged to our schools and their respective names, Wiseburn cannot in good conscience retain names of historical figures whose well-documented actions strongly diverge from our stated mission and assurances.”

The previous namesakes have well-documented histories of harm, particularly to groups that are historically and currently marginalized. Though some believe the namesakes were leaders of their time, the harms they committed weigh against both their perceived distinctions and against their ability to represent our TK-8 schools. For instance:

🔹 Richard Henry Dana was a lawyer, politician, and sailor from Massachusetts who was a prominent abolitionist, yet made disparaging comments about Mexicans at length in his autobiography.

🔹 Juan Cabrillo was a conquistador who led the first European contact with what is now California, and who was granted and greatly benefitted from encomiendas. Given by the Spanish crown for military service, encomiendas are land grants with rights to enslave native populations. Cabrillo’s encomiendas made him rich from slave labor in gold mines.

🔹 Juan de Anza was a military officer and 55th Governor of the Province of New Mexico known for consistently entering battles with and killing indigenous peoples, as well as carrying out the expulsion of the Jesuits from Northern Sonora in 1767.

🔹 Peter H. Burnett was the first elected Governor of California who actively pushed for the exclusion, mistreatment, and oppression of Black people, immigrants, and Native Americans, who he also talked about exterminating. Throughout his political career, his policies were steeped in racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy.

The District recognizes that ensuring our schools are safe and inclusive for all is critical to our mission and that these equity efforts will require funding. However, the District will work to ensure the fiscal responsibility of this process, including that current signage will not be removed until new names are decided, that schools may use up any current supplies with existing names until they run out, and that all existing plaques with the namesakes will be kept. Opportunities for renewed classroom naming rights from our existing partnerships with industry will be explored to further defray costs. The signs for 138th St. School and Dana Middle School were already being explored for upgrades, bringing the primary new costs to be incurred down to two signs at Cabrillo Elementary and Anza Elementary.