SPRINGFIELD, Va. — A school board in Virginia has agreed to rename a high school that honors a Confederate general.
The Fairfax County School Board unanimously voted to change the name of Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield during its meeting Tuesday night, news outlets reported.
Fairfax County Superintendent Scott Braband proposed possible alternative names for the school, including John Lewis, Barack Obama, Mildred Loving, Cesar Chavez, Legacy and Central Springfield. Community members can propose other names during a monthlong comment period, news outlets said.
The community was set to discuss the options at a meeting July 15, with a public hearing the following week and a formal vote by the school board July 23, according to officials.
The new name was set to go into effect for the 2020-21 school year.
The school board’s decision comes after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered a statue of Lee to be removed from the granite pedestal where it has sat along Richmond’s Monument Avenue for more than a century. Lawsuits have been filed seeking to block the move.
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