A group of 10 longtime civic activists and leaders in the City of Falls Church has officially objected to the choices determined by two citizen volunteer committees to rename the City’s high school and one of its elementary schools.

Led by a former mayor and two former vice mayors, the group submitted a letter to the F.C. School Board Tuesday stated “None of them [the proposed names] resonated with us and we found ourselves asking, ‘is this list the best we can come up with?’”

Signing the letter were Former Mayor Brian O’Connor, Former Vice Mayors Hal Lippman and Lindy Hockenberry, along with Sally Ekfelt, Harry Shovlin, Tim Stevens, Nancy Brandon, Dick McCall, Ken Feltman and Marian Jarrett.

The School Board is currently slated to make its choices at its virtual meeting next Tuesday, April 27.

The group’s full statement reads, “Upon seeing the list of suggested names for the new high school, the undersigned – individuals who have in the past served the City as mayor, vice-mayor, school board chair, acclaimed FCCPS teacher and, currently, in other local civic capacities – were disappointed and let down by those presented. None of them resonated with us and we found ourselves asking, ‘is this list the best we can come up with?’ Hopefully, the answer is no. We wonder if this isn’t a case where those responsible should go back to the drawing board – mightn’t the School Board consider redirecting the advisory group to try again or appoint a successor group to develop a new list of names?”