Duval County Public Schools board votes to rename all 6 Confederate-named schools

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE 9:50 p.m.:

The Duval County Public school board has voted to change the names of all six Confederate-named schools. Each school had a 5-2 vote.

Joseph Finegan Elementary School will become Anchor Academy.

Stonewall Jacksonville Elementary School will become Hidden Oaks Elementary School.

J.E.B. Stuart Middle School will become Westside Middle School.

Kirby-Smith Middle School will become Springfield Middle School.

Jefferson Davis Middle School will become Charger Academy.

Robert E. Lee High School will become Riverside High School.

The school board elected not to change the names of three other schools - Jean Ribault middle and high schools and Andrew Jackson High School.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The Duval County Public Schools board is set to decide Tuesday night on name change recommendations for six schools currently named for prominent Confederate leaders.

On May 25, DCPS Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene released her name change recommendations to the public as part of the school board’s June 1 meeting agenda. She will officially present to the board her list of new name recommendations. They include renaming:

• Joseph Finegan Elementary School to Anchor Academy
• Stonewall Jackson Elementary School to Hidden Oaks Elementary School
• J.E.B. Stuart Middle School to Westside Middle School
• Kirby-Smith Middle School to Springfield Middle School
• Jefferson Davis Middle School to Charger Academy
• Robert E. Lee High School to Riverside High School

Greene will not recommend name changes for three other schools - Jean Ribault middle and high schools and Andrew Jackson High School.

Action News Jax told you last month that stakeholders for six of the nine schools voted to change the schools’ names. Nearly 10,000 votes were cast. Stakeholders for Lee High School cast the most votes out of any school.

Before releasing her recommendations, Greene said in a statement, “Our goal was to give our community a voice in this process. Constituents have participated in dozens of meetings, and now thousands have shared their voice through this balloting process. My job is to synthesize all of this input and bring the recommendation that I feel is best for our schools, our community, and most important, our students.”

After releasing her recommendations, Greene said, “I want to thank all of the people who participated in this process, and I want to thank the school leaders and district employees who have managed this over the last several months. We’ve had dozens of meetings, hours of public testimony and thousands of votes. All of this input has helped shape my recommendations, which I will discuss publicly with the Board next week.”

The school district told Action News Jax it would cost a little over a million dollars to rename all the schools.

SEE THE FULL RESULTS OF STAKEHOLDER VOTING IN THE DOCUMENT BELOW:

©2021 Cox Media Group