A local activist is demanding that the Duval County Public Schools remove the names of confederate generals from all public schools in the district.
Ben Frazier of the Northside Coalition said the names of prominent confederates should be removed and new names should be established based on feedback from the public.
Northside Coalition requests for name changes are being made in conjunction with established Duval County school board policy," Frazier said in a statement.
"That policy clearly states that A request to change a schools name can come from students, parents, alumni, or the community serving that school.Frazier said that one of the major goals of the confederacy was to keep and perpetuate slavery, and listed Robert E. Lee High School, J.E.B Middle School, Stonewall Jackson Elementary School, Joseph Finegan Elementary School and Jefferson Davis Middle School as schools that should remove names.
The Duval County Public Schools board states that the superintendent or any school board member can submit a written request to the school board to change a name and that community input is desired and highly valued, but the board has final authority over the name of any school.