The Baton Rouge Area Chamber will sign the online petition encouraging the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board to rename Lee Magnet High School, the organization announced Wednesday afternoon.
The decision to support renaming the school, which is named after Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee, comes from BRAC’s board of directors.
“Renaming this school is the right thing to do,” says Adam Knapp, president and CEO of BRAC, in a press release. “Inclusive communities start with inclusive schools, in which every student is welcomed to an environment conducive to learning. A school named in honor of a historical figure whose actions sought to preserve and perpetuate subjugation of Black Americans has no place in an inclusive community. We stand in favor of righting this historical wrong and urge the EBR School Board to take action on this issue.”
As of 2:45 p.m., the petition had more than 260 signatures.
On Thursday, the East Baton Rouge School Board will consider a resolution to rename the school to something not related to the Confederacy by mid-July. The resolution states that the school system is committed to operating schools free of “oppressive, racially offensive, culturally insensitive names and symbols that adversely affect school culture and climate.”
If passed by the board, Superintendent Warren Drake will form a renaming committee tasked with suggesting three new names, according to the resolution. The school board would then choose a new name at its July 16 meeting.
The school, founded in the ‘50s, was originally named Robert E. Lee High School, but was renamed in 2016 when it became a magnet school in an effort to distance it from the soldier.
