WOODSTOCK, Va. — A group of supporters in Warren County is prepared to support their neighbors in Shenandoah County fight against an effort to reverse school names back to their original Confederate names.
The Shenandoah County School Board is expected to vote on a request by the group Coalition for Better Schools to restore the names of two schools that were changed amid the racial reckoning in 2020.
The school board then changed Stonewall Jackson High School to Mountain View High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School to Honey Run Elementary School. The same group attempted to reverse the names in 2022 but it was stalled by school board members in a 3-3 vote.
“To remove that symbol of solidarity is a big message to the community, locally and regionally,” Kelsey Lawrence of Front Royal, a rally organizer, told WUSA9. “It starts in these areas where there's not as many people. If we don’t pay attention, it grows and festers, and these things gain traction.”
On April 3, the coalition sent another letter that claimed a survey it conducted found an overwhelming number of community members supported reversing the names back to the names of Confederate generals.
“We understand that the decision to rename these schools was made in response to discussions surrounding Confederate symbols,” the letter said. “However, we believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our community’s heritage and respect the wishes of the majority.”
The group’s spokesperson Mike Scheibe said the biggest concern is how the school board in 2020 rushed the name change without much public input.
“The community overall felt they were not listened to which is why we're standing up and bringing this up now,” Scheibe told WUSA9. “If it had been done the right way and people were listened to, the coalition would not be involved like we are now.”
“I do not personally believe changing the school names and walking away did anything to really bring the community together to deal with those complex and difficult topics,” Sheibe added.
The school board meeting is being held at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock at 7 p.m. on Thursday. It’s expected to draw a large crowd.
“I'm offended personally by naming schools after Confederate generals,” resident and Shenandoah Co. Democratic Committee Chair Brad Skipper said. “I find it reprehensible and appalling and stunned that here in 2024, we have a group of people who thinks that's OK.”
School board chair Dennis Barlow said he hasn’t officially made up his mind but also criticized the school board in 2020 for conducting a “flawed and bad process.”
Former school board member Cyndy Walsh defended the decision by saying it was what was needed at the time. She said there were concerns raised to them for months before the vote on changing the school names.
She believes the focus on how it was passed in the first place is covering the real issue.
“They're not actually discussing the issue at hand and whether reverting back is the right thing to do,” Walsh said. “Every board has to make difficult decisions. We do it all the time with the budget. We have to make decisions on what to fund and what not to fund. To me this was no different. This was making a decision on behalf of the community.”