Montgomery County Public Schools is holding another community input session on the possible renaming of Magruder High School in Rockville, Maryland.
The school is named after Col. Zadok Magruder, a founding father of Montgomery County who was also a slave owner.
According to MCPS, Magruder, a Revolutionary War officer and one of the six people tasked with organizing the county’s government after the war, owned 26 slaves, a relatively large number for that time period.
A petition to change the name of the high school was submitted to the Montgomery County Board of Education in February.
The school system held two community input sessions earlier this month on the petition, and a third session will be held in person on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Shady Grove Middle School in Gaithersburg.
According to a flyer from Montgomery County schools, students, families, alumni and school staff are invited to “discuss the meaning the school name holds for them and how the school name affirms the school’s educational mission and values.”
The school board is considering renaming six schools including Francis Scott Key Middle School in White Oak and Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville.
Under the MCPS renaming guidelines, the board will consider several factors including “known dissonance” between the context of the individual’s life and core values of the school board. See the board’s naming policy online.
If the school board determines the need to rename the school, the school community will be consulted to create a list of alternative names.
MontgomeryHistory.org has identified seven schools in the County named after slave owners.
