Tonight, Thursday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m. marks the second of two forums hosted by the Falls Church School Board where public input will be received on the issue of whether or not the names of one or two of the City’s public schools should be changed.
The schools, named currently for U.S. founding fathers who owned slaves in the 1700s, are George Mason High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary. A survey that ended yesterday was conducted among students, parents, staff, and faculty of the two schools in question, and advance registration to speak at tonight’s online forum also ended yesterday.
The first such forum was held last week. After tonight’s hearing, the School Board is scheduled to review the results of the survey at its Nov. 10 meeting, and with the final report on the survey due by Nov. 13, further discuss the results at its Nov. 17 work session, and make a final decision at its Dec. 8 meeting.
In a statement, the School Board said, “The Board will consider a variety of factors in deciding whether to change either school’s name, one of which will be direct feedback from students, parents, staff and faculty, and the community.” Resources on the issue of Mason, Jefferson and slavery are provided on the School Board’s website.
