Business & Finance

8th Houston school will drop named linked to Confederacy

Board members, in split votes, already had taken action on 7 other names.
March 11, 2016

The Houston school board has ordered the renaming of an eighth school named for a Confederate loyalist.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the board voted 4 to 3 to rename Reagan High School. A school committee will recommend a new name.

A similarly split board voted in January to rename four schools, and voted in February to rename an additional three. Reagan High School was named for John H. Reagan, postmaster general of the Confederacy.

The decision to give schools less controversial names comes after the board approved a policy in October that says school names "must respect cultural differences and values."

A committee at each affected school will recommend a new name, and the board will decide on the names in May.

The district has estimated that changing the school names will cost about $250,000 per campus.

About the Author

Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy, senior editor, has written for AS&U on a wide range of educational issues since 1999.

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