The Republicans get into office and they return to the racist ways the left tried to retire. Hugs
A Virginia board is considering restoring the names of two schools that were originally named for Confederate generals but were changed in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd.
The Shenandoah County School Board voted in 2020 to change Stonewall Jackson High School to Mountain View High School and Ashby-Lee Elementary School to Honey Run Elementary School.
But in the two years since, community members — especially alumni — have expressed opposition to the name changes, school board member Cynthia Walsh said.
More than 4,000 people have signed a petition to change the names back, Vice Chair Dennis Barlow said at a board meeting, where the issue was discussed at length last week.
Walsh is one of three members who were on the board when the name changes were approved. The current, all-white board is made up of six members.
Some new board members say they feel the decision to change the names was rushed and that it did not consider the opinion of the community.
Barlow — who characterized those who were in favor of changing the names as outsiders who are “creepy,” “elitist” and from “the dark side” — said the school board’s decision was “undemocratic and unfair.”
He added that he regards Jackson as a “gallant commander.”
Walsh, who said she does not think the names should be changed back, argued: “Most people who vote for elected officials then count on them to do the right thing on their behalf.”
“We do have a representative democracy. We don’t have a direct democracy,” she added.
After Floyd’s death, statues, monuments, schools and buildings named for Confederate leaders became a focal point of the racial justice movement around the country. A number of the statues and monuments have come down.
“Times have changed. The makeup of our schools has changed,” Walsh said. “And I sincerely believe that revisiting the name change is not what’s best for kids.”
The board decided at the meeting that it would poll constituents about whether they believe the names should be changed back. But the board could not settle on whether to poll the entire area or only the residents of the areas served by the schools in question.
Kyle Gutshall, a recent high school graduate who was elected to the board this year, argued: “In my opinion if you’re doing it countywide, you might as well throw the students out, because they don’t care.”
But other board members were adamant throughout the night that the decision first has to be what’s right for the students.
“No. 1 criteria: what is best for kids,” Andrew Keller said earlier in the meeting. “The kids we’re going to teach today and the next 25 years.”
They also didn’t settle on what options would be in the survey, which they mostly agreed should have these questions:
- Do you want to keep the names?
- Do you want to restore the original names?
“I suggested a compromise: adding a third” option, Walsh said. “I did not agree to the name change, but I do not think we should change it back, and that’s where we left it that night, but we didn’t vote on it.”
The next school board meeting is June 9.
The board likely won’t vote on the issue then, because it is still hammering out the details of the survey, Walsh said.
If the vote is split, the issue is likely to be tabled for a year or until there is a new board, she said.
Shenandoah County Public Schools declined to weigh in on the matter.
“It is the responsibility of the Shenandoah County School Board to determine the name of schools, school facilities, and areas of school facilities or grounds in the division. We do not have a comment or statement as a division at this time,” the district said in a statement.
The system serves about 6,000 students. More than 75 percent of them are white, and about 3 percent are Black, according to the state Education Departmenr.
But Walsh said the statistics don’t show the full picture. “In one of our elementary schools, there are 10 languages spoken,” she said. “There is diversity.”
Scottie's Playtime 
Ugggggggggggh.
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Hello Ali. The Republican party is no longer hiding their racism. They are openly pushing it. The article mentions that one of the board members pushing this said “He added that he regards Jackson as a “gallant commander.” This was a person who led enemy soldiers who were attacking the government of the USA. The right he led his troops to fight for was the right to own black people as property. Think how it must feel to be a black student at a school named for a person who thought of you as property, as something they could own. It eats at me and I am an old white man. I think these white people pushing to have these confederate statues, monuments, and buildings named after these racists need to think how black people feel seeing these things and having to go to these buildings that are there to honor their being slaves owned by white people, having no rights and could be abused at will. Or is that the point these white people want the black kids to feel? Again it is a person who feels entitled to his feelings being pushed on others and also feels entitled to deny others the right to have their own feelings on things matter also. Hugs
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You nailed it there-entitlement.
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Hello Ali. It took me a while to understand why the same maga right wing that demands the parental right to say what is not in school or allowed in books don’t give the same respect to the feelings, wants, desires of the other parents that disagree with them. I realized that they have been taught that they have the only correct opinion on every issue and they are entitled to have the say over all things even if they are a small minority regardless of how the majority that disagrees with them feels. This idea has been taught from the top down to the people by Republican party because they seen they were becoming a minority and they feel entitled to rule over the US. Republicans feel only they should be allowed to hold elected office even though they are a clear minority in the US. So naturally the members of the party feel that same way. They are entitled to tell everyone else how things must be according to what they want regardless of how others feel. Hugs
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