RICHMOND, Va. — Elementary school students will be attending a new school but in the same building when they return to class in the fall.
The Richmond School Board voted 6-1 Monday to rename J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School to Barack Obama Elementary School. It was the city's only school named in honor of the Confederacy, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
The lone holdout, Kenya Gibson, had asked for a delay of the vote because there were no local names being considered in the school’s renaming. Gibson represents the 3rd District where Barack Obama Elementary School is located.
This isn't the first school named for the country's first African-American president. A new elementary school in New Haven, Connecticut will be named after Obama. Another school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is also named for the 44th president, the Times-Dispatch reported.
A school in Mississippi changed its name from Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, to Obama.
The Richmond School Board said it will cost the district $26,000 to make the change, including new signage, new mats with the name written on them, new stationery, business cards and other office supplies and T-shirts for faculty, staff and students, the Times-Dispatch reported.