Shenandoah County School Board votes to restore the Confederate Names of schools

WOODSTOCK Va. (WHSV) - For the first time in United States history, a school district that changed the name of schools that honored Confederate generals, voted to restore the Confederate names years later.

The Shenandoah County School Board held a public hearing on May 9 at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School to discuss restoring the names of Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School to Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School.

At the hearing, residents voiced their opinions on the school’s current names and whether they agreed with the restoration or were against it. In 2020, the school board elected to change the names to abolish the recognition of Confederate generals like many other school systems.’

The board members who voted in favor of the restoration of the Confederate names said the 2020 board took shortcuts and made decisions without public opinion.

“This was not an innocent mistake by some inexperienced school board,” District 2 School Board member Gloria Carlineo said. “No, this was a carefully choreographed advance of a school board alluding to ignore the people they represented.”

At the hearing, people were loud when they spoke about their opinions. After each speaker, audience members who agreed with their opinions roared with clapping and shouting to show their support. In the audience, there were equal amounts of people for and against the restoration of the names.

People who argued against the restoration said protecting African-American children is the number one priority. Many people who spoke up, including students who deal with or see racism in their schools, said the changes would exacerbate the issues already present in the schools.

“If you vote to restore the name ‘Stonewall Jackson’ in 2024, you will be resurrecting an act in 1959 that is forever rooted in mass resistance and Jim Crow segregation,” one concerned resident said.

Comments were not limited to people against the name changes. People who were for the change said the 2020 school board deceived them, and they deserve to have an input in the decisions made by the school board.

“I’m fed up on people lying about how our schools were named,” a resident in favor of the change said. “I think it’s really rich that people lecture me about morality but excuse the actions of the 2020 school board.”

Kyle Gutshall, District 4 member, was the only “No” vote for the restoration of the names. He said there are no clear answers for the restoration.

“We’ve talked about the right way, the wrong way to do it,” Gutshall said. “The right thing to do, the wrong thing to do. Things like this really come down to perspective and how you view things.”

Ultimately, the board voted to restore the names of those schools and the legacies those names carry in the community.

“People in the Shenandoah Valley say that only the confederates are the ones who did nasty things, or did nasty things to black people,” Dennis Barlow, school board chair, said. “You just stopped reading your history, and you’re not being realistic. War’s hell.”

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