Community discussion to rename nine DCPS schools starts this month

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The process to rename nine Duval County Public Schools will start this week as schools will begin community meetings to review and discuss possible new names.

This renaming process began in the Summer when School Board Members Warren Jones submitted six schools as they were named in honor of Confederate Officers and Ashley Smith-Juaraz submitted three schools as they were named in honor of leaders who were responsible for marginalizing and killing indigenous people.

The schools under consideration are:

• Joseph Finegan Elementary
• Stonewall Jackson Elementary
• Jefferson Davis Middle
• Kirby-Smith Middle
• J.E.B. Stuart Middle
• Robert E. Lee High
• Andrew Jackson High School
• Jean Ribault High School
• Jean Ribault Middle School

There is a nine-step process to rename a school. According to the district, all of the nine above mentioned schools are in Step 3. This means that community stakeholders for each school will have meetings where they will examine the current name of the school and recommend up to five possible new names.

Those names will be put on a ballot by February 12.

Each school will have a chance to send this ballot out and parents, students, employees, alumni, and community members will be able to vote on the name they like best. This process must be done by May 12. By May 17, the school should have met with regional leaders and create a presentation to give Superintendent Diana Greene with the new name and the cost that it would take to implement it.

All of these dates are subjective to change.

Dr. Greene will then develop her final recommendations and give them to the School Board.

The School Board will meet and discuss the renaming process in two separate meetings. The six elementary and middle schools will be discussed in May and the three high schools will be discussed in June.

Opponents of the renaming process say it will disrupt the historic identities, decimate alumni financial support, and waste upwards of two million dollars.

The expected cost to rename each school is around $200,000 per school. That would be an approximate $1.8 million total. The Jacksonville Public Education Fund have created a fund to help offset any costs the district may have due to renaming. The costs cover new signage, new paint, refinishing athletic fields and courts, and providing new uniforms to sports teams and bands. The fund can be found here.

For a list of the dates of the community meetings for each school can be found here.

Cox Media Group