Changes may be coming to San Jose's Burnett Middle in San Jose after controversy surrounding the campus' namesake.
Spearheaded by teachers, staff and students, an online effort is underway to change the name of Burnett Academy, since the school was named after the first governor of California, which community members say was blatantly racist.
“We got 82 submissions, so far some have been redundant, I’ve had a couple that want to keep it,” Burnett Middle School Principal Christina Castro.
The school dropped the name ‘”Peter” a couple of years ago, but kept the name “Burnett”.
As governor, Burnett fought to keep blacks out of state, advocated for the killing of Native American tribes and lobbied for the Chinese Exclusionary Act.
The school committee will submit three names to the district at the end of the year and the online efforts to change the name will end Monday.
