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BSD: Sandra Day O’Connor Intermediate School?

According to the DJ piece today, the B'game School District Trustees are planning to kick the can down the road on changing the name of BIS to RBG Intermediate.  The article notes

Burlingame School District officials looked to San Francisco’s attempt to rename some school campuses as a cautionary tale when considering the renaming of one of its own on Tuesday, pushing the idea off until next fall while they update the district’s facility naming policy.

“I don’t think anyone is taking it off the table for future consideration of changing names of the elementary schools,” Trustee Florence Wong said. “The hope would be that come the fall, there might be more energy for that.”

The push, minor as it is, given how few actual B'game residents have signed the petition is supposedly driven by a need for gender inclusiveness since all the elementary schools are named after guys–very important guys, but guys nonetheless.  The renaming advocates claim

During Tuesday’s meeting, (Sari) McConnell argued that Ginsburg’s career fighting for gender equity before being named to the Supreme Court was reason enough to honor her, making her a perfect candidate for replacing the name of the middle school.

So let's use the Shoe-on-the-Other-Foot test here and see if they pass.  If we want to honor a female trailblazer with strong credentials and a towering record of Supreme Court achievement, let's rename BIS for Sandra Day O'Connor – the actual trailblazer who joined the court in 1981- more than a decade before RBG.  What say you, petitioners, are your stated objectives real or is there another agenda? 

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12 responses to “BSD: Sandra Day O’Connor Intermediate School?”

  1. resident

    I’m gonna bet they get an F on that test.

  2. Paloma Ave

    Should they be called ‘renaming advocates’ or ‘renaming activists’?
    Just leave it as is. Some SJW will find a way to become a victim, no matter what name is picked!

  3. Bruce Dickinson

    It’s clearly another agenda, Joe. C’mon, even Bruce Dickinson, a lifelong Democrat (originally from NY) knows that there’s not a chance in hell that anyone identified from the Republican party will be used to name a school in Burlingame. This is California, where it’s one way or the highway (to Texas!).
    You bet that McKinley, Roosevelt, Washington, and Lincoln elementary schools will be the next ones renamed (in that order).
    The old saying “those who don’t learn from the past are condemned to repeat it” in California has turned into: “if we erase the past, there’s nothing to learn because we are already so enlightened”
    I’m sure all our community’s children..who were out of schools for over 6 months during the pandemic, will really benefit from this naming crusade!
    What a joke! These purported “enlightened” champions of this stuff are actually and ironically the most dumb, and narrow minded, and intolerant!

  4. Joanne Bennett

    Said it before (when SF was contemplating this) and will say it again, don’t they have better things to focus on?
    My daughter who lives in SF was furious that SF was contemplating this name change in the middle of a pandemic when the kids were still doing distance learning. If I were still a Burlingame school parent I would be too!
    C’mon where are the priorities here and yes have already lost another daughter who took the highway to Texas!

  5. Mom

    Looks like a good way to get a recall campaign started in Burlingame.

  6. Mom

    There is another whiny Karen letter in the Daily Journal today about renaming BIS for Ginsburg. Ms. Soley should stop the sexist whining. RBG did nothing for education except reduce class sizes.

  7. Joe

    Well, the idea is back after a year……………
    Calls to rename one of Burlingame School District’s campuses after the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has led district officials closer to adopting a formal policy outlining how the building renaming process would be triggered and subsequently pursued.
    “The whole community would have to say I want this; so, I’m OK with this because there’s actually a process,” Trustee Elizabeth Kendall said during a board meeting Nov. 8.
    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.
    …….
    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.
    …….
    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.
    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.
    —————–
    I foresee a lot of wheel-spinning and expense–not just cash, but staff and trustee time. In the meantime, Sandra Day O’Connor beats RBG all day IMHO.

  8. Paloma Ave

    Just leave it BIS.

  9. Joe

    I forgot the link to the DJ article:
    https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/burlingame-schools-set-to-outline-renaming-policy/article_619be3f2-6bae-11ed-aa04-d363de8af7a1?utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1669388422&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

  10. Mildred Stemmis York

    I say we just make up a name.
    Mildred Stemmins York
    Done.

  11. Peter Garrison

    Or… Pay for naming rights! Looking at you, Elon.
    Or… to be safe, change the name every year and the signage can be made out of craft material by the school kids!

  12. Mom

    The sad part is if you spend time with middle school girls they don’t feel in the least inferior to middle school boys. Nor do they care much what their school name is. This is a Soccer Karen issue.

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