Rochester School 33 To Be Rename After Iris Banister
Written by Tariq on April 30, 2024
The Rochester school board intends to rename School 33 on Webster Avenue for the late Iris Banister, it announced Saturday during Banister’s memorial service at the school. Banister, who died in March at age 77, spent more than 30 years working in the Rochester City School District, part of a career of service in education. She and her husband, Thomas Banister, were also leaders more generally in community uplift work in northeast Rochester, where School 33 is located. John James Audubon School 33, as it is now known, is the largest K-6 school in Monroe County. It shares a campus with a Rochester Public Library branch, an R-Center and an expansive public park.
Since it opened in 1890, the school on Webster Avenue has borne the name of Audubon, the 19th century naturalist and founder of the Audubon Club. He also owned and sold people in slavery and decried calls for abolition, something Rochester School Board Vice President Beatriz LeBron said was taken into consideration in the renaming decision. Members of the Black Agenda Group collected hundreds of petitions in favor of renaming the school for Banister, LeBron said. There will be a public hearing on the change May 14. It is too late for the renaming to go into effect for the 2024-25 school year. Instead, the school board will go through its legal process this spring so that the name change can happen in 2025.
