Judge rules against district move to cover historic Washington High artwork

The San Francisco School Board violated state law when it voted to cover up a historic and controversial New Deal-era mural and to legalize politics, a Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.

The verdict means the sprawling artwork at George Washington High School – depicting the country’s first president and the high school’s namesake throughout his life – will remain visible and unchanged for now.

The George Washington High School Alumni Association sued the issue in October 2019.

The controversy surrounding the large mural centers on portions of the frescoes depicting slavery and white settlers stepping over a dead Native American.

The ruling marks the latest blow to a school board that has been mired in legal proceedings, controversy, and flip-flops for the past two years as board members pursued an agenda focused on racial justice amid pandemic school closings and despite concerns about insufficient public input and uncertain legal bases concentrated.

The board also voted to change 44 school names associated with slavery, oppression, genocide and colonization earlier this year, and overturned the decision by recognizing the problems in the process after a local attorney threatened violations to sue the Brown Act, which governs the way public gatherings are held.

The school board voted to paint over the mural two years ago before reversing that decision two months later and instead choosing to cover the art with panels or curtains. The controversy that made international headlines posed the issue of racial justice versus artistic freedom and heritage preservation at a time of racial reflection and reparations for historical atrocities and public displays related to America’s ugly past.

But the school district and the elected school board failed to comply with the environmental regulations, which include examining all alternatives before deciding on the mural. Instead, the school board voted to cover up the mural and asked employees to find alternatives as part of an environmental review.

“The hallmark of our system is that the rule of law – the process – is more important than the outcome, whether it is the President of the United States or a local school board,” Judge Anne-Christine Massullo said in her ruling.

“A results-based panel determined to remove all 13 panels from the murals,” despite the objectionable material being in only two panels, Massullo said. They also pledged to spend $ 500,000 on the project.

The environmental impact report should look at how and if the school board’s goal can be achieved without covering the entire mural, the judge said, adding all the options.

“California has long been committed to its environmental and historical resources,” she wrote in her judgment.

Massullo ordered the board to overturn its vote to remove the murals and to withdraw the resolutions covering the artwork.

District officials said they would review the decision, which does not prevent school authorities from covering up the mural in the future as long as they obey the law.

Critics of the mural, including current and former students and parents, say the images are offensive and disturbing and something that students shouldn’t see every day.

Wall keepers say that the pictures represent history and that their destruction amounts to censorship. They also say that the creator of the mural – Russian artist and San Francisco-based Victor Arnautoff – was a communist who was very critical of America’s history of racism and his goal in painting the frescoes was to explore the dark side of American history and to uncover their first president.

The board of directors cannot take any further action on the mural by September at the latest if a plan for an environmental assessment must be submitted with the consent of the plaintiff.

This is breaking news and this article will be updated.

Jill Tucker is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker