The Fairfax County School Board held a work session on Monday to discuss which of the J.E.B. Stuart High School community’s new name suggestions will be voted in during the regular board meeting Thursday, Oct. 26. Despite some board members still expressing their problems with the process, the board stayed consistent by overlooking the consensus when debating new names.
Top vote-getter “Stuart, Stuart Raiders” was barely discussed while second-place finisher “Barbara Rose Johns” which was heavily advocated for at the Sept. 9 community meeting and Sept. 16 community vote, was only mentioned in passing. The board seemed to favor “Justice Thurgood Marshall” most openly, leaning toward a “Justice High School” interpretation. But problems with having two Marshall High Schools, the other one nearby named for Gen. George Marshall, could cause unnecessary confusion. That opened the door for the fifth-highest vote-getter, “Louis G. (Gonzaga) Mendez, Jr.” to be mentioned favorably by most board members, who found the WWII veteran’s military service, ties to the Lake Barcroft area and Latino heritage appealing.
However no hard commitments were made by the session’s end, making next Thursday’s meeting pivotal.
