Under Berkeley Board Policy 7310, the Superintendent shall appoint an advisory committee to review school or facility name suggestions and submit recommendations for the Board’s consideration.
Furthermore, the Board policy states that “the renaming of existing schools or major facilities shall occur only under extraordinary circumstances and after thorough study.”
The current Administrative Regulation (AR) 7310 specifies a process for the review of an existing name before a recommendation is made to the Board to consider changing the name of a facility or school. The AR further states that once a process is underway for one site, a petition will not be considered for another site until the completion of the prior process.
In 2017-18, the community of LeConte Elementary School petitioned and followed the Board policy and process; in May of 2018 the School Board approved the name Sylvia Mendez Elementary School. A summary of the LeConte > Mendez process is on this page.
On June 10, 2020, the Board adopted Resolution 20-064 in Support of Black Lives Matter, which launched a name review process for Jefferson and Washington Schools. The process for renaming Jefferson Elementary began in August 2020 and is detailed here. The process for renaming Washington Elementary began in September 2021 and is detailed here.