The Tulsa School District will review the names of all of its schools. The announcement was made today by Tulsa School Superintendent Deborah Gist.
In a Facebook post she said “Leading with equity means thinking critically about our traditions and histories and recognizing where changes may be needed to live our core values of equity, character, excellence, team, and joy. We are committing to undertaking a full review of the names of all of our schools to ensure that our learning communities have names that are aligned with our values.”
She did not name any particular school. However, Tulsa has several schools with names that could be considered offensive to some. For example, The Robert E. Lee Elementary School at 19th and Cincinnati.
In the post, she said she had discussed school namesakes with board members in the past, prior to last weekend’s events in Virginia. She is looking for community leaders that would like to be a part of the process.