PEORIA, Ill. — Five Peoria Public Schools will be changing their names after Monday night’s board meeting.
The board unanimously approved the names to be changed to Peoria-based leaders who made an impact on the community. But, one school will go back to a former name, Reservoir, instead of being named after a person.
The name originally proposed for Washington Gifted School was Betty Friedan, but a board member said Friedan would have gone against the school’s LGBTQ curriculum.
After the revision, the schools names will be changed to the following:
Calvin Coolidge Middle School to Harold B. Dawson Middle School
Harrison Community Learning Center to Annie Jo Gordon Community Learning Center
Lindbergh Middle School to Liberty Leadership Middle School
Roosevelt Magnet School to The Elise Ford Allen Academy
Washington Gifted School to Reservoir Gifted Academy
Although, some are still not please with changing some of the names.
“I don’t have a problem about us naming C.T. Vivian or other people. I don’t have a problem with that I think we should recognize local people for that, but there are ways to do that. We’ve got schools that are named after streets and trees. You could change the name of that school and not make the impact that you’re doing,” said Dan Walter, former school board member.
According to 25 News, the timeline for implementing the changes is to be determined.
Also passed Monday night was the modified calendar for the 2022-2023 school year and the 2023-2024 school year.
