The Anne Arundel, Maryland, County Board of Education said it will hear recommendations at the next meeting about whether George Fox Middle School in Pasadena should be renamed.
Members at the March 17 session will receive and consider the findings from a committee assembled over the summer.
George Fox served as the county’s first public schools superintendent, from 1916 to 1946.
During that time, a Black teacher filed a lawsuit in 1939 seeking equal pay for fellow Black teachers.
At a July 8 meeting last year, board member Julie Hummer told her colleagues about research conducted into Fox’s testimony at trial that included a racist comment.
Hummer told the board that Fox testified that “the worst white teacher is better than the best Black teacher.”
The board unanimously voted to request that Superintendent George Arlotto assemble a panel to investigate the possibility of removing Fox’s name.
Before the vote took place, Hummer said the school system should “teach our children that they all have worth and potential and value.”
The committee comprises parents, students, community members and school system staff.
The March 17 board meeting will include the usual public comment period prior to the presentation. The board accepts up to 10 speakers per agenda item.
The effort to rename George Fox Middle School was put in motion after the death of George Floyd, and the reckoning that followed across the country to remove names of those who serve as a reminder of racism.
