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Lowell High School is on this list because of objections to the views of James Russell Lowell. The district’s own spreadsheet helpfully notes that the school is named for the city—“Lowell High School was not named for James Russell Lowell”—but they voted to change the name anyway https://twitter.com/nickconfessore/status/1354775203889508353
Paul Revere K-8 is also being renamed, because Revere’s role in the Penobscot expedition was “directly related to the colonization of the Penobscot.” The same spreadsheet notes that this expedition was directed against the British—but again, the school will be renamed.
Sanchez Elementary is on the list, because of objections to Fr. José Bernardo Sánchez. The district’s spreadsheet notes that it is named for the street it’s on—Sanchez Street—which, in turn, is named after José de la Cruz Sánchez. It, too, is being renamed anyway.
It is one thing to rename schools because you find their namesakes objectionable. But in at least two cases, they’re being renamed because the people whom they *don’t* honor were deemed objectionable—and in a third, because of something the district itself says he did not do.
I should add that I’m relating what the district’s spreadsheet said—that is, what they thought they were voting for—I haven’t independently researched the provenance of these names. Remarkably, Wikipedia was their most commonly cited source.
