The Montgomery County Board of Education on Tuesday plans to consider a motion brought forth by community members that would push to rename three local high schools named after Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Sidney Lanier.
Efforts to rename buildings, institutions and traditions that get their names from Confederate history have been on the rise since the death of George Floyd in late May.
A petition to rename the three schools has garnered over 29,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
“There is no longer a place for Confederate beliefs in our society so why should our schools be named after them?” wrote Dave Steele, the creator of the petition, on the effort’s webpage.
Public School Review has data showing that 91% of the student body in the Montgomery Public Schools is nonwhite.
A second petition urging officials to consider keeping the name Sidney Lanier High School has been signed by over 1,300 individuals as of Tuesday.
The organizer allows that Lanier served in the Confederate army for three years beginning at age 19, but argues the high school bears Lanier’s name “because of his literary talent for which he was known all over the world.”
The Board of Education will meet in Carver High School’s auditorium at 5:00 p.m., and only 100 members of the public will be allowed to attend due to coronavirus precautions. Masks and temperature checks will be required for everyone in the room.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
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