PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Public Schools (PPS) Board gave their approval Tuesday for an effort to change the name of Jason Lee Elementary School.
The school, located on Northeast 92nd Avenue, was named after the first Christian missionary who settled and established schools in the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century.
According to the Oregon Historical Society, Lee worked to convert Indigenous tribes to Christianity and assimilate them into western culture, while also promoting white settlements in the Willamette Valley.
“We are again a racially and culturally diverse community. We are not a school represented any more by the ideals and values of Jason Lee. We’re so much more than that,” said Jason Lee Elementary School Principal Alma Velasquez.
“We need a name that inspires us to be the changed agents we need to be to create a more socially just world. We want a name that represents not just who we are today but who we can become in the future,” she concluded.
The school said they’re now planning to get a committee of students to come up with proposals for a new name.
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