Trustees weigh new name for Dixie district in California

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) — Trustees for the Dixie School District in the California city of San Rafael will consider a new name for the 150-year-old district after critics linked it to the Confederacy and slavery.

Trustees will vote Tuesday to change the name of the San Francisco Bay Area district to one of three possibilities: Laurel Creek, Creekside or Kenne school district.

They’ll also choose a new name for the district’s only elementary school, from Dixie Elementary to Big Rock, Lucas Valley or Creekside.

The name-change issue has pitted parents against each other for months and generated heated debate in San Rafael, an overwhelmingly white city of 59,000 people.

Some insisted the Dixie name is racially insensitive, while others complained the change was political correctness run amok. The board approved the change in April.