Virginia school board votes to restore names of Confederate leaders to 2 schools

A Virginia school district is poised to restore the names of Confederate leaders to two local schools − four years after the decision to change the names during the racial reckoning of 2020. 

In a Shenandoah County school board that started Thursday, members voted 5-1 to reverse the names of Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School back to Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby-Lee Elementary School. 

It came after community members proposed their different arguments during a public hearing on Thursday. Vice Chairman Kyle L. Gutshall was the only person who voted against the change, while other members believed that the board failed to get public input years ago. 

"This was not an innocent mistake by some inexperienced school board," District 2 school board member Gloria Carlineo said at the hearing, calling it a "carefully choreographed" move by the board "alluding to ignore the people they represented."

Previous:A school district removed Confederate names from buildings. Now, they might put them back.

Confederate school names changed in 2021

Both buildings were renamed in 2021 after the district dropped the original names honoring Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and Turner Ashby. 

In 2022, the Coalition for Better Schools, a local conservative group, tried unsuccessfully to change the names back, but the school board deadlocked in a 3-3 vote. In April, the coalition challenged the change again, stating in a letter to the Shenandoah County School Board the names "honor our community's heritage and respect the wishes of the majority."

"We appreciate your dedication to our schools and the well-being of our students," the coalition wrote. "Restoring these names would demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity, respect for history, and responsiveness to community feedback."

The group's letter stated Confederate Gens. Jackson and Lee, and Cmdr. Ashby have historical connections to Virginia and the commonwealth's history.

Several states, federal agencies and localities made similar moves to remove Confederate names, monuments and statues after a wave of protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

Related:Erasing the Confederacy: Army changes names of iconic Fort Hood and Fort Benning bases

Community members argued for and against the restoration

At the meeting, some opposers centered Black students in their stance. One stated that even considering restoring the names is an "absolute travesty," pointing to its racist past. She called on the board to make the right choice.

"My heart breaks for the children that are going to have to walk into schools named after people that wanted them and their families enslaved by the white man," she said.

Another person voiced, "If you vote to restore the name Stonewall Jackson in 2024, you will be resurrecting an act in 1959 that is forever rooted in mass resistance and Jim Crow segregation."

More:Confederate names are being scrubbed from US military bases. The list of ideas to replace them is 30,000 deep.

Another woman argued that preservation is vital: "I ask that when you cast your vote, you remember that Stonewall Jackson and others fighting on the side of the Confederacy in this area were intent on protecting and preserving the land, the buildings and the lives of those under attack."

The board's decision is acknowledged as being the first in the country. Experts previously told USA TODAY that the potential move could prompt other states to follow suit. 

Robert Watson, an assistant professor of history at Hampton University, a historically Black university in Virginia, said he can't recall another instance of a school reversing course after dropping its Confederate namesake. He said there have been efforts in Florida to restore the names of some public buildings.

"If it does get traction in the Shenandoah Valley, it probably will get some traction and other places," he said.