US school board to vote on restoring Confederate names
By Sam Cabral
A Virginia school board could vote for two schools to revert to their original Confederate names in a debate that has bitterly divided a town.
In 2020, the Shenandoah County School Board changed the names of Stonewall Jackson High and Ashby-Lee Elementary in Quicksburg.
But community members have been pushing for a reversal, arguing the name change is unpopular.
Thursday’s vote may mark the first such U-turn anywhere in the US.
A large crowd, including residents on both sides of the issue, is expected to flock to the school board’s public meeting.
Following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd and a summer of racial justice unrest, Virginia and other states took down Confederate statues from public spaces.
In a letter to school board chairs across the state, then-Democratic Governor Ralph Northam said: “It is time to change school names and mascots that memorialize Confederate leaders or sympathizers.”
The Shenandoah County School Board took action three days later, moving to rename Stonewall Jackson High as Mountain View High, and Ashby-Lee Elementary as Honey Run Elementary.
