CNN
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The Shenandoah County, Virginia, school board voted early Friday to reinstate the names of two schools that previously honored Confederate leaders — four years after those names were removed.
The 5-1 vote came after hours of public comment from people speaking on both sides of the issue at a meeting that began Thursday night. Vice Chairman Kyle L. Gutshall was the only person to vote against it.
“As you vote, remember that Stonewall Jackson and others who fought on the Confederate side in this region were passionate about defending the land, buildings, and lives of those under attack. ” the woman complained. Commission to Restore the Confederate Name. “Those who want the name restored are focused on preservation.”
Gene Kilby, the last surviving son of Virginia civil rights activist James Wilson Kilby, who helped desegregate Virginia schools, criticized the move to keep the name.
“Why are we here tonight to go back to a very cruel time in history when hatred and racism continued in this county and across the United States?” Kilby said. “Is this the kind of legacy you want in a Shenandoah County public school building?”
In the years since the killing of George Floyd in 2020, names of Confederate leaders, Confederate monuments, and symbols have been removed from the windows of many schools, universities, military installations, and even the Washington National Cathedral.
Nearly four years ago, the Shenandoah County Board of Education made such a decision and moved to rename Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School. These schools were named after Confederate generals. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Turner Ashby.
The move in 2020 was part of a resolution condemning racism and affirming the district’s “commitment to an inclusive school environment,” according to school board documents.
Starting in July 2021, the schools will be called Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School, according to school board documents.
However, the composition of the school board is now different than it was in 2020, with all six seats held by different people.
After the residents group The Coalition for Better Schools asked the board last month to consider reverting to the school’s original name, with members discussing the issue in a work session, hearing public comments and planning a vote this week. did.
At an April 22 working group meeting, six board members criticized the process behind the 2020 name change, calling it wrong, hasty and lacking public input. Board member Gloria E. Carlineo also said during the work session that this has “eroded” confidence in the school board.
Carlineo told CNN he would vote based on how the name was changed in 2020. She said the decision was made within days and under COVID-19 restrictions with limited community input.
“So, for me, the main consideration is: do we, as a democratic, rule-of-law nation, choose to ignore decisions by government agencies that exploit the tragedy of COVID-19, or do we choose to ignore the injustices that have deeply divided our communities? I choose the latter,” Carlineo told CNN before Thursday’s meeting.
CNN has reached out to the other five board members for comment ahead of Thursday’s meeting.
Shenandoah County Public Schools spokeswoman Jessica Sager said the district has not yet received an estimate of the estimated cost of the name change. The district estimates it will spend more than $304,000 in 2021 in costs related to changing the names of the two schools and the middle school mascot, according to district documents.
Former Shenandoah County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Johnston said at last year’s meeting that these costs involve things like uniforms and equipment for athletic teams, resurfacing gym floors, and signage and scoreboards inside buildings. told board members.
According to the agenda for Thursday’s meeting, the motion, if passed, would require that “individual donations, rather than school system or government tax dollars, be used to restore the school’s name, but that expenditures related to the restoration cost would be used to restore the school’s name.” will be supervised by SCPS.”
Parents and residents expressed their opposition to and support for the restoration of the school’s name. In an April 3 letter to the school board, the School Improvement Coalition said, “To respect the traditions of our community and respect the wishes of the majority, it is imperative that we reconsider this decision. ” he said.
“We have full confidence in the current school board to listen to the voters and follow the wishes of the majority of the county,” the group told CNN before the vote was cast. Unfortunately, the previous school board did not consider them. We believe that ‘We the People’ is an essential part of the Constitution and should be upheld at all levels of government. ”
Sarah Coase, a mother of two students who attend schools in the district, said she opposed restoring names with Confederate ties before the vote and was unhappy that it was being considered. He was one of several parents and residents.
“It’s very frustrating to know that it’s been four years and some parts of the community still refuse to move forward,” Koz told CNN.
She does everything students want and need to succeed, including fixing a leaky roof, making sure there’s a sound system for track and field events, and enough varsity letters with their current school name. He said that attention should be paid to this.
“We still don’t have all the athletic equipment we had when the name changed in 2020. We still utilize the old hurdles, sometimes with the Stonewall name on them,” the cause said. told CNN.
Shenandoah County Public Schools enrolls more than 5,600 students, about 75% white, 18% Hispanic and 3% black, according to state Department of Education data.
CNN’s Paradise Afshar and Gillian Sykes contributed to this report.
