VA school board to vote on restoring Confederate names

Thursday, May 09, 2024

A Virginia school board could vote to return two schools back 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.

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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 implored: "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 - now called Mountain View High - and Ashby-Lee Elementary - now known as Honey Run Elementary.

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