Dixie School District Board Scheduled To Vote On Name Change

SAN RAFAEL, CA – The Board of Trustees of the Dixie Elementary School District is scheduled to vote Tuesday evening whether to change the name of the district, which many residents consider racist.

The special 6 p.m. meeting is at the district office, 380 Nova Albion Way in San Rafael.

Trustee Marnie Glickman said the board will vote whether or not to change the name of the district, and if a change is approved trustees will set a timeline for selecting a new name. The district has rejected 15 potential names so far this year, Glickman said.

The name change would take effect on June 30, July 31 or Aug. 22.

The total cost of the name change is estimated at nearly $40,000, with $12,000 of it to the Dixie Elementary School alone.

Proponents of the name change, who have formed the group "ChangeTheName," say the word Dixie is associated with segregation, white supremacy and segregation dating back to the Civil War era.

Opponents of the name change, "We Are Dixie," argue the district was named after Mary Dixie, a Miwok Indian woman who had ties to James Miller, who built the first schoolhouse in San Rafael in 1849.

The Dixie Elementary School District was founded in 1864 and its three K-5 elementary schools and one grade 6-8 school serve the communities of Terra Linda, Marinwood, Lucas Valley and a portion of Contempo Marin.

• ALSO SEE: Marin Residents Invited To Upcoming County Budget Workshops

--Bay City News