Courtesy of WTKR
OAN Newsroom
7:20 PM PT – Friday, December 4, 2020
A Virginia school district moved to fund several schools’ renaming efforts instead of funding coronavirus resources.
On Thursday, the Portsmouth School Board voted eight-to-one to put nearly $450,000 toward the renaming of two elementary schools and one high school.
The schools were named after several historical figures with ties to slavery and segregation, including former presidents Woodrow Wilson and John Tyler.
circa 1916: The 28th President of the United States Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924). (Photo by Tony Essex/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
377869 81: John Tyler, tenth President of the United States serving from 1841 to 1845. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
However, some board members worried the project would sink the district’s budget.
“I was a student at Manor when it changed to Wilson,” Portsmouth School Boardmember Sarah Hinds stated. “I lived through the piecemeal-put-together of creating a new school and I don’t want to put another class or two of students through that at this point.”
The dissenting board member argued the money should go to resources for students instead of renaming the schools.
Meanwhile, the schools will begin the renaming process on July 1.
