The Fairfax County School Board decided in a 7-4 vote Thursday night to rename J.E.B. Stuart High School to Justice High School at the board’s regular meeting. The decision came after nearly five hours of debate as various substitute motions by the board attempting to signify specific individuals who were brought up by the community, such as Barbara Rose Johns, Col. Louis G. Mendez, Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall and another Stuart suggestion, were voted down.

Instead, Mason district representative Sandy Evans’ motion, which ultimately passed, aims to honor all three of those icons under the banner of Justice High. As per the motion that called for the name change on the July 27 board meeting, the name change must be completed by no later than the start of the 2019-20 school year. Evans’ motion seems intent on starting that process as soon as possible as last night’s motion implored FCPS Superintendent, Dr. Scott Brabrand, to lay out an implementation plan by Dec. 14.

Next steps to take include hammering out concrete costs to the name change, as some community members are skeptical about the $600,000 – $900,000 estimates provided by FCPS.