FALLS CHURCH, Va. — The Fairfax County School Board will vote later this month on whether to create a work group aimed at renaming a high school named after a Confederate Army general.
If it’s created, the work group would be made up of students, parents, alumni, members of the community and business and community leaders with the goal of renaming J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church.
The group would have until June 2017 to make recommendations to the board.
The proposal was introduced at Thursday’s board meeting, and several people used the citizen participation portion of the meeting to speak on both sides of the issue.
“The NAACP supports changing the name of J.E.B. Stuart High School to better reflect the diversity and inclusion of our public schools,” said George Alber with the Fairfax County NAACP.
“We have a duty to our community to not carry forward the relics of hate from a century ago into the future.”
Nicholas Pisciotta, a 2012 J.E.B. Stuart High graduate, opposes a name change and delivered his comments via video.
“The motion to change the name is a reckless attempt to revise our nation’s past, and deprives the students from this area of the educational opportunity to see how far the nation has advanced. Stuart is one of the most diverse high schools in the nation. It is a magical place,” he said.
Others who spoke took issue with the cost of a name change, which the school system estimates would be just under $700,000.
