The first step has been taken by Amarillo ISD Trustees toward completely changing the name of Lee Elementary School.
On Tuesday night, the Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to initiate the process to rename Lee Elementary School. Trustees said the move was required under a policy adopted in April 2019, in which trustees must initiate the renaming process after a request has been submitted from the community. In this case, members of the Amarillo Branch NAACP filed the request, allowing trustees to request District staff to begin compiling possible names to replace the name of Lee Elementary School.
Several citizens spoke at Tuesday’s meeting in favor of the change, with many addressing the historical significance of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Amarillo citizen Bill Glover was one of the citizens who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, asking trustees to consider the change.
“You get very few chances in your life to right a wrong or a crime,” Glover said.
Outgoing Amarillo ISD trustee John Ben Blanchard, whose resignation was effective early this morning, also said during the meeting he hoped to see the school’s name ultimately changed.
“My hope is that the name of Lee Elementary will be changed to something that is not divisive or offensive to our community,” Blanchard said.
However, while many citizens spoke in favor of the change, not everyone supported initiating the renaming process. Amarillo citizen Mike Moore spoke at the meeting, asking trustees to consider voting against the proposal.
“[Lee] was an honorable man…he was a servant, not a traitor,” Moore said. “…I would urge you to consider maintaining the name of Lee Elementary.”
Ultimately, trustees voted to begin the process, which will provide possible school names, which could be related to the name of the neighborhood, the name of the school’s street, or an early pioneer of Amarillo history, officials said. Trustees also could ultimately vote to keep the name, but will be provided with a list of alternatives at a future meeting.
At this time, it is unknown what name could be chosen to replace Lee Elementary’s name, although many in the community have expressed support for renaming the school to Park Hills Elementary, which would honor the name of the school’s neighborhood.
