PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — The final public hearing for the possible name changes of three Portsmouth schools was held Monday night.
Dozens of people showed up to Woodrow Wilson High School to speak out in favor of or against the changes. Wilson, James Hurst and John Tyler Elementary Schools are the three schools many have requested to change.
“We want people to know we are trying to listen to the community. We were elected to serve the community and we want a fair open process to hear their thoughts,” said Costella Williams, who is on the school board and chair of the subcommittee in charge of the hearings.
Williams says the district started getting requests for changes following the death of George Floyd and marches for equality earlier in the year.
“We’ve got like thousands of signatures on petitions for the change of the name to ‘Manor’ and we have gotten some from Wilson that want to keep it that way,” she said.
A number of attendees in the audience were alumni of Manor High School. Manor opened in the 1970s as a result of desegregation.
In the early 1990s, Woodrow Wilson High School, which was housed in an old building, merged with Manor High School in the Manor building.
Alumni of Wilson fought to keep its name, and won.
Now, alumni of Manor are fighting back.
“Just given that shot again, that’s the thing about it,” said Jacque Kendall, who graduated from Manor in 1977. “I never in my wildest dreams thought we’d be able to give our voices.”
Kendall says she was inspired to see the turnout on Monday and was excited that, not only have more people signed their petition to change the name, but people from all over the world including their old teachers have voiced their support.
She hopes the school board will change the name to not only give Manor alumni a place to call home again but also to build a sense of community for current students.
“I know this alumni will give back to the students here. They don’t have people that come to football games. We’ve been wanting to come somewhere but it wasn’t ours. We want ownership. We want our legacy back,” she said.
Those who were against the name change also spoke. Their reasons included the economic costs of changing the names as well as the historical contributions of those they’re named after.
Williams told the audience that rumors stating the name change would cost the district $3 million were not true and the school board would find out on Thursday how much the cost would be.
Now, Williams, Lakeesha “Klu” Atkinson, and Ted Lamb, the school board members who make up the subcommittee, will meet and discuss what they will present to the board.
Williams says that presentation will happen at either their October or November meeting and the board will vote on what actions to take before the end of the year.
Regardless of what decision will be made, Williams says she hopes the passion of those that attended Manor will rub off on current students.
“I hope students have that passion they’ve never lost which I think is valuable,” she said.