Stonewall Jackson middle school has a committee to help decide name change

ROANOKE,Va – Stonewall Jackson Middle School has received requests for a name change due its Confederate ties.
The school board has now officially put together a committee to decide whether to change the name.

We spoke with committee chair Eli Jamison, who said the committee plans to work with the community on the matter.

“Our job as a committee is to collect arguments and   to hear from the community about their positions and their thoughts about this process and then we will make a recommendation to the school board,” said Jamison. 

Jamison said the final decision will be made by the school board, which hopes to have a decision before school is out. There will be a total of three meetings opened, so community members can offer their opinions. Also, there will be a survey, available online and as a hard copy, to collect community feedback. 

The meetings will take place on March 1 at William Fleming Middle School, March 15 at Patrick Henry High School and and March 26 at Stonewall Jackson Middle School. Each meeting will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.