Robert E. Lee High School has a new name: LEE High School.
The North East ISD Board of Education voted 5-2 last night for a compromise new name for the school, which has been named for the Confederate General-in-Chief since it opened in 1958. The Board voted in August to remove the name following complaints that it was perpetrating racism by honoring a Confederate figure.
The new name: Legacy of Educational Excellence, and the board said the school will be commonly referred to by the acronym, LEE High School.
The new name will be effective at the start of the 2018-2019 school year, and school board members said continuing to call the school LEE could save taxpayer money. It had been estimated that changing all of the signage, uniforms, and other 'Lee' markings could cost up to $1 million.
"As a trustee, it is our responsibility to be fiscally responsible," Board of Education President Shannon Grona said. "We can minimize the number of things that need to be changed at the school."
But the overwhelming number of students who attended last night's school board meeting told 1200 WOAI's Morgan Montalvo they don't want the name changed at all.
Lee Senior Kendall Kloza said all of the talk about the name change has spread the misconception that Lee is a hotbed of racism, something she said couldn't be further from the truth.
"There is no racism at our school and this is not going to change racism," she said. "Changing the name has only caused a divide in our school."
Several students, like Senior Selah Evans, said the movement to change the name didn't even come from actual Lee students, but from students from other schools who come to Lee as part of its magnet programs, like the International School of the Americas.
"If they don't want to be represented as Robert E. Lee Volunteers, they can go back to their home school," she said. "NISA doesn't play sports for Robert E. Lee High School, they're not in the band, they only use our campus."
Several students and parents used the term 'hoodwinked' to describe District and School Board's reaction to an alleged 'petition of students' which prompted the name change, and will force taxpayers to pay for something very few of them want.
One parent suggested that the name change should be put up for a public vote, but said the School Board doesn't want that, because they know the outcome would be overwhelming, to keep the name.
Lee Alumns Tim Adams vowed a purge of all of the school board members who supported the name change.
"The school board is not the Supreme Court serving life long terms," he said. "They serve four year terms at the pleasure of the people. And when the people are displeased, they remove people from the board."
Grona said the board members have received 'offensive and hateful e-mails' since the decision was made in August to change the name of the school.
It will now be up to the NEISD Administration to decide on school colors and a mascot for LEE High.