WOODSTOCK — The Shenandoah County School Board will vote May 9 whether to restore the names of two schools that were changed several years ago because they were named after Confederate generals.
In 2020, the school board voted to rename the Quicksburg schools of Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School in an effort to condemn racism and to affirm the school division’s commitment to an inclusive environment for all.
Stonewall Jackson was renamed Mountain View High School and Ashby Lee was renamed Honey Run Elementary School.
At a work session Monday night, the board discussed the push by some members of the public to restore the former names.
Recently, the Coalition for Better Schools distributed a survey to several thousand county residents asking which names they preferred. At the April 11 school board meeting, the board heard from numerous members of the public about their feelings on the name changes, both for and against.
When discussing the topic of the name change, all board members agreed that the 2020 board went about the process incorrectly. School board members Michael Rickard and Brandi Rutz read emails obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act that indicated school board members pushed for the vote on the name changes to occur sooner rather than later.
“There was an obvious thought process and push to get this done as quickly as possible,” Rutz said. “To avoid what we have done for the past two years and that’s to hear from hundreds of people.”
School board members Rickard, Gloria Carlineo and Tom Streett felt the issue of renaming the schools should be decided by residents in the districts that have students attending those schools — Districts 1, 2 and part of 3. Rutz said that when Signal Knob Middle School was named in the 1990s, the northern districts were the only districts consulted in the matter.
School board Vice Chairman Kyle Gutshall agreed as he felt the primary issue was that the public was not involved with the initial decision. He believes if the process has been done correctly and the names still changed then everyone would have moved on.
However, Gutshall said he did not completely agree with only Districts 1, 2 and part of 3 having a say.
“I believe it's important and obviously they’re the main people affected by this, but I think it’s important to hear everyone’s thoughts,” said Gutshall, who represents District 4. “That’s why it was a disaster in the first place because no one was heard.”
Gutshall and Streett took issue with the changing perceptions of conducting surveys. In 2022, the board was planning to do a survey on the possibility of restoring the former names but the survey was never done.
Gutshall and Streett found it interesting that now that the survey was conducted, not through the school division but through the Coalition for Better Schools, some people were not satisfied with it and did not believe it was credible.
“It reminds me how Congress works, if people don’t get their way, then all of sudden they change their views,” Streett said. “Like Kyle said and the others, the school board had the opportunity to do a survey and they chose not to. Now an organization does a survey, now all of sudden there’s scrambling.”
Streett also said he was taken aback by the topic of racism that was brought up at the April 11 school board meeting.
“The whole next day at work I just couldn’t believe [it],” Streett said. “I attended those schools and I even called some old classmates and we couldn’t recall any racism that really stood out. I couldn’t recall any and I went there for five years. I was blown away…”
Carlineo said she did not agree with the concept of re-writing history through name changes.
“We started going after Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, then we moved onto [George] Washington and [Thomas] Jefferson,” Carlineo said. “Right now you go to Charlottesville and pretty much Thomas Jefferson is persona non grata. The university he founded doesn’t want to recognize him because he owned slaves.”
School board Chairman Dennis Barlow said he was bothered by some of the public's comments that made it sound like that restoring the school names would be a racist act.
“So many people were quick to come up and say that anybody who participated in the Civil War was a racist and a slaver and anybody who speaks up in favor of the courage or gallantry or Christianity or something like Stonewall Jackson is a racist,” Barlow said. “That’s such a, as a historian, such a rotten way to look at history…you can go to Malcolm X High School, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Albert Einstein High School in this country. It generally has to do with where you live and what has happened, it doesn’t mean you have to be Albert Einstein or Eleanor Roosevelt.”
While Barlow feels the process was flawed, he informed the board that if he felt or sees any racism surrounding the name restoration, then he will change his vote.
“If we have a group of people out there who think this is their way to make a statement for white supremacy, [then] they better beware…I don’t want to see us returning to that stuff like 1959 where we’re trying to resurrect this concept of white supremacy or any kind of racism and I mean any kind of racism — black racism or white racism.”
(43) comments
Long overdue and should have never been renamed in the first place.
An outside fringe group independently conducted a survey of a limited number of households, and the overwhelming majority of residents who received them threw it into the trash.
But this School Board had already made its decision, pretending the product was legitimate and the "proof" they needed to make a monumentally destructive decision.
This Board seems quite eager to embarrass our students and turn our County into a state-wide, national and international target of derision and disbelief.
Naming schools for men who killed American soldiers, and who led others to kill in the pursuit of keeping Blacks enslaved, is full-on racist.
"I mean, it was so much and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways,” may be how the members of this Board also view the the Civil War and the Confederate effort, but it's the 21st century and time to move on.
The previous SB allowed for robust community input in the midst of a pandemic, and was correct to get those odious names off our schools. To claim "the process was flawed" is a red herring.
To the members of the School Board, drop this nonsense and deal with the actual challenges our kids and schools' staff face.
Yeah, we tried your way, quickly pushed through and without the input of the citizens of the county. We then ousted the ones who chose to run for reelection and are taking it back. For a group that preaches the never ending “threats to democracy”, y’all sure hate to see it in action
Imagine a young Afro-American child going to school in a building named after an old white man that wanted their ancestors to remain in bondage and servitude (slavery).
Yeah there were a bunch who said it didn’t affect them and they didn’t care. What-ifs and what-aboutism is tiring. Also, I think the terminology you use is outdated and offensive.
I think calling transgender people mentally ill is offensive as you did. People who live in glass houses....
I doubt you’ll find many people outside your echo chamber who will agree with you.
@ "Walt" lol. First I will address echo chamber with this quote: “To one degree or another, generally, people feel comfortable within their own echo chambers. Surrounding themselves with many others who share the same religion, eat the same food, share the same spirituality, etc. The problem with that, is, you never become who you were meant to be, you never come face to face with yourself and with your angels and your demons, you never become MORE. Because you're just echoing back into yourself what's already a part of you.”
― C. JoyBell C.
I am glad to have experienced more than than having lived in the same place all my life, having the same food stuffed in my mouth.
Now with regard to transgenders being mentally ill. We once again see how you view things from your uneducated echo chamber. Science says otherwise.
https://theconversation.com/being-transgender-is-not-a-mental-illness-and-the-who-should-acknowledge-this-63182
I think the evidence of the last 4 years shows we are in a scientific dark age again, except for this time it’s not the church stifling science, it’s another mental illness; liberalism.
Please provide evidence we are in a scientific dark age. Someone still living in the dark ages is not persuading.
Look with your eyes. There’s your evidence
@ Kowalski. In other words you got nothing.
My eyes: Water is wet, windmills and lightbulbs cause cancer, rake the leaves to prevent forest fires, inject yourself with disinfectant, trees fall down in 18 months, etc.
I would ask Mr. Barlow this. How many current schools in Virginia bear the names of Confederate generals? I know a lot of Virginia schools have changed names over the past 4-5 years. If we went back to the previous names would we stick out like a sore thumb and bear the stigma as most likely being in the minority? I don't think a reversal will reflect on our County in a positive way. Better to leave things alone.
You can always go back to where you came from. The voters here have spoken.
I think in this instance, going back to where he came from doesn’t apply. However, going back to where he spent most of his life would be appropriate.
Another thing you say JW, that people who don't agree with your narrow views don't belong here.
My question was posed to Mr. Barlow. Thanks for your drivel.
Let's say the names change back. Which I assume will happen. Will the next elected board take up the issue again and possibly change the names yet again? I believe this is very possible and very irresponsible on all involved. I did not want the names changed to begin with but now I really do not want a back and forth battle that we're possibly poised to see.
Chief, I think the issue will be settled for many years to come. The woke mafia shouldn’t be able to turn this place into a Nova Suburb anytime soon.
You're wrong on that. You were probably raised on the "Lost Cause" nonesense. So it isn't entirely your fault. But that myth has been thoroughly debunked and it isn't taught anymore. Kids today are learning (correctly) that the confederacy was an effort to preserve the institution of slavery and school names that celebrate the confederacy are celebrating that legacy. History will not judge this kindly. A segregated school named after a confederate general in the middle of massive resistance is racist. Full stop.
The amazing thing is that kids (and a lot of adults, too) are seeking out *all* the info, not just what is fed to them. The naming of the school had nothing to do with segregation or the “massive resistance” which was led by democrats. Shouts of racism in 2024 are nothing more than a paper tiger. I guess we’ll have to wait 25 years to see if you’re right.
The School Board is elected to listen to the voters that put them in place. They can not see the future and should not be expected to.
I can see why you would discount the future. If the current SB does this, they will either lie about it or downplay their role in it 20 years from now, just as the proponents of Jim Crow distanced themselves in subsequent decades. The trouble is, there is always contemperaneous documentation. That is what has debunked the "lost cause."
If the current school board does this, they will fix an underhanded action by the previous board and do what they were elected for. The Woke Mafia and political Uni-party loves to hustle through things that are contradictory to the beliefs of electorate and are oftentimes directly harmful to the citizenry in the shadows. No amount of DC lobbying money and tactics can stop the board that was overwhelmingly put in place.
Maybe we should be talking about all the documentation we have that the old school board knew they were going against the majority of the people. The documentation of how they rushed it through. But it is obvious that your wife new the future after she voted for the name change with out allowing any public input. She knew enough not to run for office again and face a humiliating loss.
Sorry to tell the apologists for the last School Board, but no one is celebrating slavery here. We are however celebrating and honoring our ancestors. And in this case, a Virginia hero who put the Valley on the map.
The Valley had many dissenters to the Civil War. Many favored staying with the Union. It was not a heroic event for many. They would have preferred battles not being waged on Valley soil. Here is a good read for you.
https://www.shenandoahatwar.org/unionists-article-1
Now do confederates in the north.
Why? The subject at hand is the Valley and how its residents felt about the war. Jeb Bush low energy from you.
Why? Because you and your cronies love to deflect and project. C’mon, you don’t have a NPR article handy or some opinion piece from the Atlantic at the ready? Sad.
A guy condemning deflection who did it himself by wanting to change the narrative away from how people in the Valley felt about the war. Lol
The very act of naming schools after racist slavers and traitors to the flag you supposedly pledge allegiance to, is prima facie evidence of folks supporting that overt racism that you claim isn't present here. And before people try to twist my words, I'm not calling anyone involved a racist, but it's clear that Lee, Jackson and Ashby were racists, and you and the others want to honor them. Only you folks supporting this hateful, in your face agenda, know if you're racist or not.
None of these men were born or died in Shenandoah County. None of these men were landowners here, none of these men did anything for the benefit of Shenandoah County. They were men who led our ancestors into a Civil War that they started, and couldn't finish. In fact, not a one of them ever even had their US citizenship restored. May as well name our schools after Hitler and Hirohito. They also led troops that killed American soldiers and weren't US citizens. Sure, John, racism has nothing to do with this...
Hold up there Brad. Lee tried (unsuccessufully) to keep Virginia out of it. There was growing momentum throughout the south to actually end slavery. The problem was with how to fix the labor problem in agriculture in which the northern states relied upon. The flash point came between an immediate end to it all, or gradual end to it all. Also, to correct you: Lee and Jefferson Davis were the only two who never granted their citizenship back.
As for Thomas Jackson, if he was such a racist, why did he and his wife commit “crimes” during the confederacy by ensuring church and school was provided to slaves to ensure their education. To that end, even R.E. Lee believed the best course to reconciliation was through a decent education for everyone.
Get off the racist drum-beat and actually read about things that may make you uncomfortable (that goes for you too, Dan). All of these military men were raised and honed in a time that none of us can fathom. To be sure, both north and south, I don’t believe there will ever be men of this caliber in our existence on earth.
Oh yeah, not to forget Valleynative: go to West Point and make sure they don’t teach any military tactics from these treacherous demons. I’m sure Payton would’ve been fine in WWII without that knowledge. And no, I don’t care about your 16 paragraphs of quotes that are bound to be forthcoming…
Yes, Lee betrayed the United States and took up arms against the very US Army he resigned from to fight for slavery, and to institutionalize it. And actually, I'm learning that Lee and Davis were posthumously granted their citizenship in the mid 1970's or 80's. More revisionist garbage to make their ancestors feel better, I guess.
As for Jackson and racism? He owned Black people, and that's about as overt of statement of racism as one can make. And let's be thrilled that there won't ever be men of this caliber again. The last thing we need is clowns like these fighting with others to keep people in chains. Good riddance. My GGF is mentioned in the book Cracker Cavaliers, where he fought under the direction of the future head of the KKK, but sure it's not racist.
According to the State Corporation Commission, there is no such entity as the "Coalition for Better Schools" in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Why is the school board paying attention to an entity that doesn't appear anywhere?
Because the school board is doing what they were elected to do. Listen to the people that put them in office. It would seem that you and your woke mob are the real threat to democracy.
They're listening to the people, which the previous board unfortunately didn't. The Supreme Court decisions I've seen posted also show that the way the meetings were held weren't legal. Change the names back!
Yes, that makes sense. No non incorporated entities should be regarded. So that rules out "claim the names" too, right?
Does anyone know if the Shenandoah County Democrats are incorporated (not that anyone really listens to them)?
We are a branch office of the DPVA and obviously your paying attention, otherwise I wouldn't have to answer this question. But let's find out why the Republican party in Shenandoah County gets to use County facilities without having to pay for them like everybody else does.
What does that have to do with this situation?
Nothing. Typical dodge and deflection. You started by implying the school board should not listen to any non incorporated entities, which is absurd. Most community groups aren't incorporated, but they should be disregarded according to you.
Heading to the what about-ism is very weak.
This article includes the statement about School Board Chair Dennis Barlow, "Barlow feels the process was flawed, he informed the board that if he felt or sees any racism surrounding the name restoration, then he will change his vote." Inspite of claiming to be a student of history, and having served as a senior officer in his U.S. Army career, he apparently has never read, or discredits ground truth original historical facts that the Confederacy waged war against the United States, killing 100,000s of troops carryin the U.S. flag in order to keep slavery legal in their states. Lee, Jackson, and Ashby were key military leaders in that shameful carnage. They did nothing to earn the honor of having a 2024 public school, which is funded by ALL the taxpayers in Shenandoah County (41% of SCPS budget), and all the taxpayers in Virginia (57% of SCPS budget), named for them. Had Chair Barlow had this understanding, he would have acted to keep this request from very few anonymous citizens' request off the agenda.
You of all people should realize that's not how the process works.
Virtue Signaling has its disadvantages, which once again you should have first hand knowledge of.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
We will consider two submissions per writer per month. Letters: 250 or fewer words. Commentaries: Under 500 words. You may submit a photo with a Commentary if you like. Email submissions to news@nvdaily.com.