Demonstrators for and against Jacksonville school renaming rally at DCPS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Emotions ran high Wednesday at a rally outside of Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) headquarters.

Cones, police and designated peacekeepers were in between demonstrators and counterdemonstrators at the rally on the issue school renaming.

The school board will vote on whether nine schools should be renamed, including six named after Confederate leaders.

On Tuesday, Duval County superintendent, Dr. Diana Greene, recommended the six schools named after Confederate leader change their names.

RELATED: Duval Superintendent releases list of proposed new names for Confederate-named schools

Her recommendations were in line with community balloting results released last week.

The Northside Coalition, which launched a marketing campaign including billboards to push for renaming, organized today’s rally DCPS.

“It’s time for us to put our money where our mouths are. It’s time for us to put our money where our voices have been, where our votes have been,” said Northside Coalition leader, Ben Frazier.

Activists are calling on donors to cover the costs of renaming.

Also, in attendance Wednesday was a group calling for the names to remain as they are.

Several, including Seber Newsome, showed their support for keeping the names by holding Confederate flags.

The school board will make the final vote on June first.

“They’re gonna have to face their constituents on a daily basis with what they do. If they change the names, people are probably going to come up to them and say, ‘why’d you do that?’” said Newsome.

Newsome says he’s concerned taxpayers will end up covering the cost of renaming.

Action News Jax reached out to DCPS asking how much has been donated to date for school renaming, and where supplemental funding may come from.

We’ll be sure to update you when those answers are received.

MORE STORIES ON DCPS NAME CHANGES:

• Duval County Public Schools releases results of community voting on proposed school name changes
• Community attends 1st set of discussions to rename 9 DCPS schools
• Renaming options set for Jacksonville school named after Confederate General
• Group pushes back on Duval County Public School name change proposal
• Duval County School Board votes unanimously to request to initiate renaming schools with Confederate ties

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