Jacksonville, FL — As the city of Jacksonville removes Confederate monuments, there’s a growing push to remove Confederate names of streets and schools.
Mike Bacon, who’s lived in Riverside for three decades, said two of his children went to Robert E. Lee High years ago.
"My son played football. My daughter ran track. We were very involved in everything that happened at Lee High School," Bacon said.
Recently, a petition began circulating online to change the name of the high school.
According to the petition, Todd Stevens, who started it, wants the school renamed after someone whose legacy positively impacts people of color.
As of noon Wednesday, there were more than 6,000 signatures.
Ahead at 7:00 a.m. I’ll show you the online petition calling for DCPS to change the name of Robert E. Lee High School @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews https://t.co/7dqLHNKGyZ
— Alicia Tarancon (@AliciaANJax) June 10, 2020
We reached out to the Duval County school district, which sent us an email saying the district is aware of the petition.
According to the district’s policy, a request to change a school’s name needs to come from students, parents, alumni or the community serving that school.
The district sent Action News Jax a list of procedures it would take to rename a school.
Once a written request is submitted to the school board, the board will vote on whether to accept the request.
If approved, the superintendent will then create procedures for changing the name of the school.
A story on Facebook regarding the issue had hundreds of comments.
Some commenters said they should keep the name Robert E. Lee, calling it a piece of history.
Other people, such as Bacon, said it’s time to move forward and replace the name with something everyone can enjoy.
"We have to leave a legacy of Jacksonville being a place that’s able to move with the changes of time and move on from things that ... probably brought some pain to a lot of us," he said.
When it comes to naming or renaming a school, the school board has the final say.
It's not the first time a school's name has been changed.
Action News Jax first reported in 2013 when Nathaniel Bedford Forrest High School was renamed Westside High.
Nathaniel Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general and a Ku Klux Klan leader.
