Current Daniel Lewis Middle School will become Georgia Brown Dual Immersion School

PASO ROBLES — A name has been chosen for the current Flamson Middle School campus, which is set to combine with students from the Daniel Lewis Middle School campus. With a unanimous vote, Flamson Middle School will become Lewis Flamson Junior High School and the current Daniel Lewis Middle School will become Georgia Brown Dual Immersion School.

Campus changes come after the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District’s (PRJUSD) made the decision in January to close the Georgia Brown Elementary School campus on 36th Street for the next school year. The campus was closed due to safety concerns, leading the district to reconfigure all elementary schools to be kindergarten through sixth grade starting in the 2024-25 school year.

Parents, students, and teachers all spoke at the meeting on Tuesday, May 28, providing their input on what to name the reconfigured campus. The Superintendent’s Advisory Committee for Facility Naming met to review and vote on their recommendations for the campus’s names, landing on George Flamson Junior High and Daniel E. Lewis School, home of Georgia Brown Dual Immersion. 

Trustee Dorian Baker made a motion for a different name. 

“I am not in favor of rewriting history, taking down statues, renaming logos and mascots, etc.,” she said. “In this situation, however, taking into account what the district has done in the past, I am making a motion of Lewis Flamson Junior High School.”

She also motioned to name the current Daniel Lewis Middle School campus the Georgia Brown Dual Immersion School.

Baker’s recommendation was met with approval from her colleagues on the board. 

Trustee Joel Peterson noted that he appreciated the public’s input on the new campus names but added, “I think at the end of the day, these kids are super resilient. They lived through COVID, they lived through the internet, all the stuff that goes on in the crazy times we live in. I think the weight you’re putting on a name is really intense.”

Many from the public proposed naming the Flamson campus Paso Robles Junior High School, which Peterson said he disagreed with because those students will all be attending Paso Robles High School together.

Trustee Laurene McCoy echoed Peterson’s comments on the intensity surrounding the name change of the campuses. 

“What concerns me is the pressure that’s put on the students in that regard because they are kids,” said McCoy. “They have a million other things to worry about besides their parents fighting over names of schools. They are children. They are resilient; they will bounce back. I truly understand how it can affect them, but also, I know that they feed off of their parents.”

Trustees also unanimously approved the naming of the 800 Math Wing for “Distinguished Mathematics Educators, First Honoree; Dave Schleppenbach, with room on the plaque to add subsequent names as recommended and approved by the Board.”

The next Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 11, at 6 p.m.