In 2020-21, Shenandoah County Public School Board went through the excruciating process of changing names of two schools away from Confederate leaders, in order to embrace non-divisive and inclusive names, Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School. The process extended over several months and garnered input both for and against the decision. In the end, they opted to choose the side of compassion and what was best for students then and in the future for our community by removing the divisive names of Confederate leaders off our public school buildings. Two years ago, those names were upheld by a divided school board; and in May 2024, the current school board reverted the names of Confederate leaders onto our public schools again with a worse process that shut out anyone's voice but the ones they wanted to hear.

The original school names were chosen during the height of Massive Resistance. The 1959 School Board chose "Stonewall Jackson High School" for an all-white high school built and named within 5 years after Brown v. Board of Education that declared segregated schools to be unconstitutional. The southern campus elementary school was built under the leadership of the same school board member that had made the motion to name Stonewall Jackson. Throughout the elementary school's construction it was referred to as Stonewall Primary, before being named Ashby-Lee in 1974, according to School Board minutes. This name derived from the names of Confederate leaders, who were used for the districts from which the elementary school pulled its students. Those names had been chosen in 1870 to promote passive-aggressive opposition to the US and show loyalty to ideologies they had preferred during the Civil War.

Our children deserve better than political indoctrination! They deserve to attend public schools free from unnecessary division. Our children learn their first lessons of civic duty at these schools. These schools do not hold a balance of Civil War leaders. This is not an innocent celebration of history. If that were the case both Union and Confederate leader names would have been used to name our schools. But they did not - they chose Stonewall Jackson High School, not Grant-Lee High School.

Similarly, the southern campus school system now draws from three districts, not two. The name Ashby-Lee no longer applies to the elementary school. If the focus is on district names, 123 Elementary School would be a great suggestion.

Please help! Sign this petition to request the SCPS School Board to Return the non-divisive names, Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School, as well as to strive toward cultivating positive community identity in Shenandoah County, Virginia. These names are now a part of our history and in a place that celebrates history so much, they deserve to be on our public school buildings.

Share this petition, as well - it will take all of us working together to claim the public school names for all our students - those attending from the community now and those attending in the future!