Marshall de Hutton | Editor

Century-old school could soon honor Chris Kehoe

Christine Kehoe Elementary may be realized by fall 2015 if a group of community activists can rally enough local support to rename the longstanding Florence Elementary.

On the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 8, approximately 50 people gathered in a large hall at Florence Elementary for the first public meeting on potentially renaming the school in honor of former state Senator Christine Kehoe. While elected officials, LGBT organizations and other locals vocalized strong support for the effort, volunteers, parents and teachers expressed more hesitancy to makeover the school’s 100-year-old image.

Renaming a school requires an extensive outreach effort, a petition drive and ultimately a vote by the San Diego Board of Education. While key figures behind the name-change effort met with Florence staff a day prior, this was the first public meeting specifically targeting the community surrounding Florence.

LGBT Activist Nicole Murray Ramirez and City Council candidate Chris Ward started off the meeting, representing the GLBT Historic Task Force, an organization responsible for other renaming efforts like Harvey Milk Street near Hillcrest’s Pride Plaza in 2012. Both Ward and Ramirez detailed Kehoe’s many accomplishments in the Hillcrest community and in public education.

Ward pointed to her “Trees for Schools” initiative, which resulted in 300 new trees planted at local schools, as well as her after-school programs and essay contests. He also noted that Kehoe had been named “Legislator of the Year” by both the San Diego County school board and the California Federation of Teachers during her time in office.

“It’s clear to us, the GLBT Historic Task Force, that as an advocate for education, for the Hillcrest community, this idea is a perfect fit to meet our goal,” Ward said.

Following Ward, San Diego Unified school board member Richard Barrera then spoke of the importance of inclusion and communication in the name-change process, urging the community to follow Kehoe’s leadership style.

“It’s very important that the school community is an active equal partner in making this happen,” Barrera said.

The apparent running joke among supporters at the meeting was that Kehoe always had to be coaxed by her peers into running for office. Barrera said her involvement in this effort was no different.

“The first thing she said to me was ‘I never asked for this.’ The second thing she said to me was ‘By the way, I’m still alive,’” Barrera said, laughing.

He also spoke about Kehoe’s career as a potential source of inspiration for students. He suggested the Christine Kehoe Elementary Trailblazers — rather than the Florence Elementary Falcons — as a potential mascot for the school.

“So when a kid says I go to Kehoe Elementary, they know what that means, they helped create it, and they are inspired by it every day,” Barrera said.

Public comment began with statements on behalf of several elected officials supporting the name change. Susan Jester of the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative LGBT advocacy group, read a statement on behalf of Mayor Kevin Faulconer supporting the effort. Other statements of support came from staff representing Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, county Supervisor Dave Roberts, U.S. Rep. Susan Davis and Council President Todd Gloria. The San Diego LGBT Center, the Greater San Diego Business Association and the Hillcrest Business Association also gave statements supporting the measure.

Then, a Florence Elementary volunteer changed the tone of the meeting.

Jackie Bacon McClish, whose children attended Florence from 2004 to 2013, took issue with the rushed manner in which she felt this decision was being made.

After identifying herself as a Democrat and a “great admirer of Christine Kehoe,” she raised concerns that the name change has been proposed “without a plan to forge a meaningful partnership between the community members that want the change and the teachers, staff, parents and volunteers.”

She cited the school’s Robert Vaughan Library, which came after years of volunteering by Vaughan and other members of the Assistance League as a prime example of a name change resulting from a well-fostered relationship with the school.

McClish also questioned the pertinence that a figure like Kehoe might have to elementary school students, suggesting that a middle school or a high school — where issues such as gay rights and environmentalism are more commonly addressed — might be “a name change with more than symbolism.”

“Sen. Kehoe, from what I understand, is a great advocate for issues such as gay rights and environmentalism,” McClish said. “My sons are in middle and high school and these are very relevant to them; for example, they have friends who are coming out and they are following the stories about marriage equality.”

McClish’s comments received applause from several members of the audience who later identified themselves as teachers at Florence.

Four more community members followed McClish, with two speaking in favor of the name change and two criticizing the effort for not doing enough outreach prior to the meeting.

“I do hope that this lip service that the community will be an equal partner will come to fruition, because it really hasn’t at this meeting today,” one parent said.

Another Florence parent questioned the cost of such a transition, citing that the majority of Florence parents have low incomes or depend on public assistance. San Diego Unified school board President Kevin Beiser later said the name-change petitioner would be required to cover all costs of the transition.

After public comment, Murray-Ramirez apologized to teachers, parents and volunteers present for the lack of outreach and inclusion.

“I hear your concerns, because if I was sitting there I’d have your same concerns,” he said, adding that the GLBT Historic Task Force provides charitable donations to schools in the form of scholarships, school supplies and their annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Ramirez said he was told that parents and teachers were made aware of this meeting well in advance.

“I think you’ve been disrespected, and that certainly wounds me personally,” he said.

At the meeting’s conclusion, Moises Aguirre, who handles external relations for the school district and facilitated the Florence meeting, assured attendees that this was “by no means … the end-all-be-all to this process.”

“As we can see, we have a lot more conversation that needs to happen,” Aguirre said. “This is only the truly first meeting.”

Aguirre also clarified that this meeting wasn’t meant specifically for parents or teachers, but for the surrounding community. He said more outreach targeting parents will come in the second half of October.

Aguirre also said the tentative deadline for the name change would be September 2015, just before the start of that school year.

Ward added that this process might take even longer. Both Ward and Aguirre agreed that this kind of disagreement was common for an initial meeting regarding a change of this manner.

“Some of the feedback you were hearing tonight — it wasn’t totally unexpected,” Ward said. “It is a big idea, it’s a whole identity change for a school that’s been around for 100 years.”

“I would be surprised if it went any other way,” Aguirre said. “[But] I think there’s that willingness to work together.”

Check sandi.net, the school district’s website, for upcoming community meetings on Florence.

—Comuníquese con Hutton Marshall al [email protected].