NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) –The Norfolk School Board met virtually Tuesday to discuss the future of several city schools named after Confederate leaders.
During the meeting, board members came to a consensus that the names of Maury High School, Ruffner Middle School, and Taylor Elementary School should be changed.
Superintendent Dr. Sharon Byrdsong said she would follow back up with them for when that name change could happen.
They had people in the meeting educating them on the history of the names and then they talked about the process of changing it.
Watch the full meeting here for more information.
Maury High School in the Ghent section of the city was named in 1910 for Confederate Naval Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, and during that same period other schools were named for figures with a racist past.
Taylor Elementary School in West Ghent was named for Walter Herron Taylor, who was Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s aid.
Ruffer Academy just outside downtown is named for slave owner William Henry Ruffner, the architect of state-mandated segregated schools in Virginia.
