Group in Shenandoah County seeks to restore Confederate names of schools
QUICKSBURG, Va. (WHSV) - A community group in Shenandoah County known as the Coalition for Better Schools is seeking to have the Confederate names restored to Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School. Back in 2020, the schools’ names were changed from Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School.
The Coalition for Better Schools was formed in Shenandoah County after the original name change. In 2022 the School Board considered restoring the Confederate names but the vote failed on a 3-3 tie. Now with a new school board in place following the November elections, the coalition is asking for the names to be restored.
“We live in a historic area and I just hate to see any remnant of it destroyed, of our heritage. A lot of the alumni I’ve spoken to wished it to remain the same,” said James Thomas, a member of the coalition and a 1968 graduate of Stonewall Jackson High School.
Many people in Shenandoah County were very upset when the names of the schools were changed in 2020. Members of the coalition say the process was very rushed and the community never got the chance to have any input on the decision.
“It wasn’t right and the community that it served, they had no voice. We didn’t want that and if anything, we wanted to at least bring it to a vote. We weren’t given a voice and they didn’t want to give us a voice because they knew what the outcome would be,” said Taylor. “We decided to take matters into our own hands and poll the people. We were really surprised it was absolutely overwhelming in favor of restoring the name.”
The coalition recently sent out a survey asking people in the area if they supported restoring the Confederate names. 8507 surveys were mailed to people living in Shenandoah County Districts 1 and 2 which feeds into the two schools. Around 14% of the surveys were returned and over 91% of the responses were in favor of restoring the Confederate names.
”If our survey had come back 51% to 49% or something out of our study group, we would’ve let this go. I mean it was so overwhelming, the 91.3%, that gave us the sign that we should continue with this,” said Mike Scheibe, the spokesperson for the Coalition for Better Schools.
It cost over $300,000 to change the schools’ names in 2020 and while the cost would not be as high to change them back Scheibe said there are already private donors who have pledged to cover the entire cost of restoring the names.
“We estimate that it’ll be six figures. I think probably between 100-150 grand, somewhere in there, and we have donors lined up so this will not cost the taxpayers anything to restore the names,” he said.
Scheibe is originally from Pennsylvania and did not grow up in the Valley like many of those fighting to restore the Confederate names. He said that he got involved in the effort because of how the initial name change was handled with people in the area feeling like they had no say in the matter.
“I’m involved because of ‘We the People’, those three words. It’s the preamble to our constitution and even in Lincoln’s addresses, a government of the people by the people and for the people. Well, the people’s voice was not listened to and it really wasn’t given a chance to be heard here and when that happens that is undermining the foundation of our democracy,” said Scheibe.
Those who spoke out against restoring the Confederate names in 2022 argued that honoring Confederate leaders sends a message of racism to African American students. Mike Scheibe said he understands their concerns but the idea that removing monuments or Confederate names combats racism is a fallacy.
“There are racists everywhere. They’re in schools named after Abraham Lincoln, there are racists in schools named after the local town, there are racists in the Food Lion, here or in New York City, Massachusetts, wherever, that’s part of their culture. I don’t believe that the names on the schools necessarily condone or push racism if anything it can open up the possibilities of a discussion about it and that’s how things will change,” he said.
Scheibe said many locals feel that the name changes in 2020 was the result of bullying from national political movements. He said that he feels that many of the people who spoke against restoring the names in the past only speak at school board meetings when it relates to hot-button national issues.
“I would say to them stop grandstanding, let’s sit down and let’s talk about this as communities, and then we can address racism. Changing the names of the schools and walking away didn’t do a darn thing to solve that,” said Scheibe.
The Shenandoah County School Board will discuss the coalition’s request to restore the names as an information item at its meeting Thursday night.
None of the three board members who voted against restoring the names in 2022 ran for reelection in November and have since been replaced by Thomas Streett, Gloria Carlineo, and Michael Rickard.
The three board members who voted to bring back the Confederate names: Kyle Gutshall, Brandi Rutz, and Board Chair Dennis Barlow, are all still on the board.
Copyright 2024 WHSV. All rights reserved.
