SAN RAFAEL (AP) — The Dixie School District in San Rafael has voted to change its name after critics linked the name to the Confederacy and slavery.
Trustees in the 150-year-old San Francisco Bay Area district voted Tuesday to rename it the Miller Creek Elementary School District. The vote was 3-1 with one abstention.
Trustees also voted to change the name of the elementary school from Dixie to Lucas Valley.
The issue has pitted parents against each other for months in the city of San Rafael.
Supporters of name change said Dixie was named by founder James Miller on a dare by Confederate sympathizers. Opponents said it honored an American Indian woman named Mary Dixie. Some critics argued a change would be political correctness run amok.
The change will take place before classes resume in August.