Community balloting begins for final schools in renaming process

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Right now, there are nine public schools under consideration for a name change. These schools are named after figures of the Confederacy or tied to the oppression of Native Americans.

PREVIOUS STORY: TRACK THE PROCESS: Duval County Public School name changes

On Monday, April 26, people were able to vote to keep or change the name at these four schools:

• Andrew Jackson High School
• Jean Ribault High School
• Jean Ribault Middle School
• Robert E. Lee High School

Here’s a look at a sample ballot: Official Ballot Duval County Public School School Renaming Election Duval County, Florida

The voting period is in person and it runs through Friday, May 7. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Lee High School voting hours are 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Click here for a full list of dates and times to vote for each school.

The renaming of Robert E. Lee High School mobilized dozens of people to show up and vote.

“I want to be seen doing what I can for the community,” said Matt Soto, a community member.

“I think it’s important to voice our opinion and this is a way to do it,” Debbie Roodbyrd, a member of Lee High School’s Class of ’73 added.

Matt Soto says he voted to change the name to Riverside High School to remove any ties to the Confederate general.

“It’s important, this is very important. I know it’s a name on a building but it’s so much more to the affected community,” he said.

“Just forcing black students and black faculty to have to spend hundreds of hours in a building that’s named after someone who fought a war to keep them enslaved, it just doesn’t add up,” he added.

Roodbyrd voted to keep the name. “I think the name needs to stay the same. It has no significance on anything going on right now,” she said.

“People certainly have the right to their opinion,” she explained. “But I think we’ve got too much controversy going on in the world right now as it is that we don’t need to keep digging into the same issues.”

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Eligible voters include students, staff, parents of the PTA, alumni, community members and the School Advisory Council.

DCPS estimates the total costs of renaming the schools to be about $1.9 million, with estimated average costs of $287,000 at secondary schools, like Lee.

The Supervisor of Elections will count all ballots in mid-May with a canvassing board and subsequently publish the results at that time.

The superintendent will review those results and give a recommendation to the school board, who will make their final decision during a meeting on June 1.

Cox Media Group