Six public colleges in Jacksonville, Florida, might be renamed as a result of they’re named after Accomplice leaders. The Florida Instances-Union reported that the change to rename Joseph Finegan Elementary to Anchor Academy; Stonewall Jackson Elementary to Hidden Oaks Elementary College; Jefferson Davis Center to Charger Academy; Kirby-Smith Center to Springfield Center College; J.E.B. Stuart Center to Westside Center College; and Robert E. Lee Excessive to Riverside Excessive College would go into impact on Aug. 3, 2021. Superintendent Diana Greene gave it the inexperienced mild of approval.
“Retaining the names of Accomplice generals in our kids’s colleges is a slap within the face to each African American that attends these colleges,” Wells Todd of Take’Em Down Jax advised The Florida Instances-Union. “Those who oppose the names being modified are acknowledging their assist for the Confederacy and all that it stood for.”
First Coast Information identified that altering college names consists of varied steps which require cash to cowl wanted bills, though funds should solely come from personal funding or beverage contracts. The Jacksonville Public Schooling Fund stated that it’s chipping in by serving to with renaming bills. Wants embody elevating cash to cowl paint, uniforms, indicators, and even fitness center flooring. The fund is serving as a fiscal agent and personal donations are allowed.
The talk over college names is much from over. Subsequent up for consideration: colleges named for people who negatively impacted indigenous individuals. The Florida Instances-Union additionally reported that Andrew Jackson Excessive College, Jean Ribault Excessive College, and Jean Ribault Center College are further colleges into consideration on a brand new renaming listing.
A invoice launched by Ashley Smith-Juarez entails starting a course of since renaming isn’t automated. Opinions about tips on how to proceed might be voiced by Superintendent Diana Greene, group members, college students, and even PTA teams.
“We started with six colleges named for Accomplice officers. We should always proceed with colleges which can be named for individuals accountable for systematically marginalizing and killing Indigenous individuals,” Smith-Juarez stated, in response to The Florida-Instances Union. “It’s the place and time within the historical past of our metropolis and our faculty district that we’re participating within the means of enacting the renaming coverage for alignment to the mission, imaginative and prescient and core values of Duval County Public Colleges.”
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