PEORIA, Ill. — As of July 1, 2021, Thomas Jefferson Primary School will begin a new era.
The Peoria Public School District 150 Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night as part of its consent agenda to rename the school to C.T. Vivian Primary School, after the close friend and adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The board in late April held a town hall meeting to take comments from proponents and opponents of the name change before making its final decision.
One of the most outspoken proponents of the name change, former school board member and current Education Chair for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Peoria Branch, Ernestine Jackson, expressed gratitude to the school board.
“We think if you’re going to name a school, it ought to be named after someone with integrity, that treats people correctly and right, that doesn’t get involved with a teenage slave to have children,” she said.
“Those things, our kids are going to learn as you bring your African-American history books into your school, as kids learn the real reason [for the name change].
“I’ve known Dr. C.T. Vivian since I was about 10, when he came to Peoria, so I know what kind of man he is. He was a man of compassion, he was a man of integrity, he was a man who cared about all people.”
The seeds for the name change were planted last August.
Other buildings within the district that could soon take on new identities include the Charles Lindbergh Middle School, Roosevelt Magnet School, Harrison Primary, Washington Gifted, and Calvin Coolidge Middle.
