District dumps Woodrow Wilson to rename school for Michelle Obama in California

A California school board voted unanimously Tuesday to rename an elementary school for former first lady Michelle Obama, KTVU reports.

“She is a role model for our children and we strive to serve our students with the same kind of love, advocacy, and courage that she served our country,” said Stephanie Hernandez-Jarvis, president of the West Contra Costa Unified School District board, KNTV reported.

The school in Richmond, near San Francisco, had previously been named for former President Woodrow Wilson, but the parent-teacher association petitioned for a change, saying his name no longer represented the community, McClatchy News previously reported.

“To go to a school named Michelle Obama, I think that’s really special and more schools should do that,” said Dawit Vazquez-Suomala, a student representative on the board, KTVU reported.

A letter by Maisha Cole, head of the school’s PTA, in favor of the change said the 28th president’s name doesn’t reflect “who we are as a community,” KTVU reports.

Children going to the newly rebuilt school should be surrounded by a “positive attitude about what the future holds for them,” Cole’s letter says.

Wilson, who served as president from 1913 to 1921, was considered a progressive leader at the time but has more recently been criticized for pro-segregation actions by his administration, The Richmond Standard reported.

Michelle Obama recently was named the most-admired woman in the world for the second year in a row by the Gallup poll, “Good Morning America” reported.

There’s already a Michelle Obama Elementary School in Panorama City, California, as well as a Michelle Obama School of Technology and the Arts in Park Forest, Illinois. And St. Paul, Minnesota, has a Barack & Michelle Obama Elementary.

Several other schools across the United States also are named for Barack Obama alone.

Cole said the school hopes Michelle Obama will visit for a renaming ceremony, KTVU reported.

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 8:13 AM with the headline "District dumps Woodrow Wilson to rename school for Michelle Obama in California."