Virginia school board votes to keep Confederate school names

ASHLAND, Va. – A Virginia school board has voted not to change names of some schools and mascots that recall the Confederacy, defying trends elsewhere.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports Hanover County’s school board voted 5-2 Tuesday night to preserve Lee-Davis High School and its Confederate mascot, as well as Stonewall Jackson Middle School and its Rebel mascot. More than 75 per cent of more than 13,000 people surveyed wanted no change in names. State data shows 80 per cent of the student population at each school is white.

Hanover’s decision runs counter to that of Petersburg, another community near Richmond, which voted unanimously in February to change the name of three schools named for Confederate leaders. The Richmond School Board recently declared its intent to change the name of a school named for a Confederate.

___

Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.richmond.com