FALLS CHURCH — The Fairfax County school board has opted for “Justice High” as the new moniker for a school named after a Confederate general.
Board members voted back in July to rename J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church. But it delayed choice of a new name to solicit input from families inside the school’s attendance boundaries.
The community’s top choice was to remove “J.E.B.” and be known simply as “Stuart High.” But in a 7-4 vote, the board opted for its own idea of Justice High.
“It provides us the opportunity to learn more about our heroes who have fought to provide justice for all,” said Board Chair Jane Strauss.
The board considered and rejected two other names suggested by the community – Louis Mendez, a decorated World War II veteran and education advocate, and former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Changing the name could cost as much as $900,000. School board member Elizabeth Schultz blasted her colleagues for ordering the name change without first devising a way to pay for it.
“We did the ‘Wimpy burger’ answer: ‘I will gladly pay Tuesday for a hamburger today.’ And we just wrote an $800,000 or something like that blank check,” said Schultz.
The name change will officially take efrect in the Fall of 2019.
WMAL News contributed content to this report.
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