RICHMOND, Va. -- Three Richmond schools bearing names of Confederate figures will soon undergo an identity makeover, marking the beginning of what Superintendent Jason Kamras called an 'exciting' process.
"I'm excited to go ahead and take the step," Kamras said in an interview Tuesday. "That will mean the end of schools named after Confederate soldiers in the City of Richmond, and that's a very exciting thing."
A majority of Richmond School Board members voted in support of taking the first steps to rename John B. Cary Elementary, Ginter Park Elementary, and Binford Middle. All three are named after men with historical ties to defending the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Before COVID-19 put plans on pause, Kamras said the school board already identified those schools to receive new names. Monday night's motion, which was spearheaded by 7th District Representative Cheryl Burke and seconded by 5th District Representative Stephanie Rizzi, put the plans back in action.
Board member Rizzi said she has particularly heard from concerned parents at Cary Elementary which is located in her district. She called the history of Cary's ties to the Confederacy "egregious." The Library of Virginia refers to him as an "ardent defender of the South."
"I have also been contacted by a fairly organized group of parents there who really want to see us start that process, so I would like to at least throw in my unwavering support and would hope that maybe we could start with that one," Rizzi said. "I feel that the namesake of a school actually does set the tone for that school, and when you attend a school that's named after someone you have pride in, it definitely can affect how you feel about that building and whether you feel welcomed or not."
A majority of board members including Burke, Rizzi, Liz Doerr, Dawn Page, and Nicole Jones supported the measure.
The RPS administration will now embark on efforts to engage community members, hold public hearings, and accept recommendations for new names over the next several months.
“I think by the spring, we should be in a good place to be able to make some final recommendations to the board and then have everything prepared for next school year," Kamras said when asked about a timeline.
Northside resident Jakeirre Hill, a former student of Ginter Park, said the school's current name makes sense and is well known throughout the community because of its location in the Ginter Park neighborhood.
“It’s something about a Ginter Park Gator. It just rang with me," Hill said.
He added he was unaware of the history of Lewis Ginter, whom the school and neighborhood are named after.
"Nobody explained it to us when we got here. It was Ginter Park from my memory, so like, it was always Ginter Park," he said.
Hill added that he supports the name change, especially for a school that's 88% comprised of Black children, according to enrollment data from the Virginia Department of Education.
“Sometimes change is good, though. If they felt it’s a Confederate member's name and they want to change it and they want to do good, I feel like being that mostly minorities go here, that'd be a good thing," he said.
At John B. Cary Elementary, parent Anne Veillette was also unaware of the history behind the name but supports the effort.
“I didn't know that John B. Cary was a Confederate soldier or leader or whatever, so I think that's a good thing," she said.
CBS 6 also spoke to several other parents who did not know Binford, Cary, and Ginter were Confederate soldiers and did not have strong feelings about the changes one way or another.
The collective renaming of the three schools will cost roughly $100,000. That's based on estimates from Kamras that elementary schools cost $25,000 to rename, and secondary schools cost $50,000 to rename. However, RPS Chief of Staff Michelle Hudacsko said Monday night that his estimates were low.
"You've got to change marquees and floor mats and stationery and uniforms and all kinds of things, so that's ballpark cost," Kamras said.
Kamras said he did not know yet if mascots would also be replaced, adding it's a decision that'll be left up to the schools.
Three board members voted against the measure because they felt other issues are more worthy of the district's time, energy, resources, and money. That includes Mariah White, Jonathan Young, and Kenya Gibson.
2nd District Representative White said investing in facilities should take priority.
“I have no problem with changing the names. My problem is that most of our schools are pretty much dilapidated. I hate to put money into something and we don't really do anything for the facility except put a marquee up," White said. "Is this really the time to change a name of a school? Or is it the time to make sure that our children have what they need in class, especially safety right now?"
Vice Chair and 3rd District Representative Gibson said the renaming process would take away time from the board focusing on improving student achievement.
"It gives me some pause having been through this before. It's an incredibly time-consuming process. You know, receiving public comment, all the board discussions I sat in on, many public hearings, and the timing just does not feel right," Gibson said. "I think when it comes to equity, we need to focus on making sure our kids can read right now."
4th District Representative Jonathan Young the board has done a "woefully inadequate" job at prioritizing.
"I hope that as soon as January, we will, as a board, spend a lot of time convening focus groups, town halls, listening sessions, listening from all of our stakeholders pertinent to your current technical education. That's at least for this school board member's priority," Young said. "Frankly, and perhaps, this is less than collegial to say but I'm going to say it anyhow, to invest time on a school renaming in lieu of student choice, career opportunities and current technical education, candidly, I think is malpractice."
When asked about those concerns, Kamras told CBS 6, "It's never the wrong time to do the right thing."
Kamras initially told the board Monday night he'd like to rename two schools at a time, but a majority of members wanted to move forward with three.
Asked by CBS 6 Tuesday if his teams had enough staffing and resources to support the renaming process for three schools instead of two, Kamras said, "We'll make it work."
