The Hampton School Board will hold two public hearings in the coming weeks regarding the potential renaming of two school campuses named after Confederate figures.
The Peninsula chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by Andrew Shannon, first asked the school division in March to rename Davis Middle School and the Campus at Lee.
Davis is named after Jefferson Davis, and Lee is named after Robert E. Lee, two prominent Confederate figures. Lee Elementary School closed in 2010 and the campus now houses some of the school division’s alternative education programs.
During the discussion in March about renaming the Fort Monroe bridge to honor SCLC founder Martin Luther King, Jr., Shannon said that the group “could have come out and advocated against taking Confederate names off of schools in Hampton, but we said we want to take the high road.”
Less than two months later, Shannon said that the bridge discussion was just the beginning of promoting change in the area.
“Once we had already engaged in stirring the consciousness in the city of Hampton, then we weren’t going to stop,” Shannon said Thursday. “Change needed to happen, and change is going to happen.”
School Board Chairwoman Martha Mugler said Wednesday night that Shannon’s request was considered, and after a couple of meetings with him the board decided to hold the hearings.
School Board policy states that “the board may rename a school or school facility upon a determination that it is appropriate to do so.” The guidelines for that determination allow for public input and a committee to review suggestions, but the ultimate decision is up to the board.
The policy also specifies that elementary and middle schools in Hampton must be named after people, while names of high schools must be geographic.
“As a board, we want to make a good decision,” Mugler said. “We want to make it based on what is the true will of our community, and so we felt it was prudent to have these public hearings.”
A similar issue was also addressed in Newport News.
Shannon, the SCLC and newly elected South District Newport News School Board member John Eley have recently advocated for Magruder Elementary School to be renamed. The school, named after a Confederate general, will move to a new building focused on science, technology, engineering and math in the fall.
The new building’s name is currently Magruder Discovery STEM Academy, but Newport News Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Price said Superintendent Ashby Kilgore intends to propose a change to simply Discovery STEM Academy, an action the School Board would have to vote on.
The hearings regarding Davis and the Campus at Lee will be held at 6 p.m. on May 18 at the Ruppert Sargent Building, and at 6 p.m. on June 1 at Jones Magnet Middle School.
Hammond can be reached by phone at 757-247-4951.