Community Votes to Drop ‘Jefferson,' Rename School

Jefferson Elementary School community members voted last week to change the school's name to Sequoia Elementary following months of controversial debate about its namesake, former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, owning slaves.

Jefferson parents, students and teachers opted to rename the school after the three Sequoia trees on the school's campus.

The name "Sequoia" won by a significant margin among students and staff, who chose Sequoia 161-111 and 11-5, respectively. Parents were less decisive, with 67 choosing Sequoia and 61 preferring Jefferson.

The vote pleased those who had lobbied to change the name.

"I'm very proud of my community," said Marguerite Talley-Hughes, one of three teachers who had originally written a letter to the Jefferson Parent-Teacher Association asking for a name change.

The letter argued that for some staff members, it had become "increasingly uncomfortable to work at a site whose name honors a slaveholder."

Jefferson parent Deborah Agre, who voted for Sequoia, said the debate was a good chance for the community "to try and understand feelings that are outside their own experience."

"I don't personally have a visceral response to the name Jefferson-to me it's just the name of the school," Agre said. "But I understand that other people do, and I think that's a good enough reason."

Agre said the debate over Jefferson's slave-owning background convinced her 9-year-old son Eli Baum, who had intended to vote against the name change to ultimately put down "Sequoia" on his ballot.

"I said, ‘Why did you vote for Sequoia over Jefferson?' and he said, ‘Because Jefferson owned slaves,'" Agre said.

Jefferson parent Mark Piccillo, who voted to keep the name "Jefferson," said the close parent vote indicates significant support for standing behind Jefferson, who Piccillo said was an important figure in American culture and philosophy.

"It's a very liberal community, but there's still a lot of people-which was heartening to me-that aren't going to tow a certain line," Piccillo said. "Even though it's not real Berkeley-like to be pro-American, I think people do see that there's an American culture and there's an ethos there."

The Berkeley School Board must approve the name change before it can take effect. The issue is set to come before the board on June 8, Berkeley Unified School District spokesperson Mark Coplan said.

Boardmember John Selawsky, who plans to vote to approve the name change, said he believed the renaming process had been conducted fairly.

"I think the parents and teachers and students have a right to choose the name of their school if they want to," he said. "I think Sequoia's a fine name."

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